- (gasps) (whispers) Mama.
That's my mother. That's my mother.
Oh. Now...
I'm okay with that. I really am.
Beatles! - Oh, Paul.
- Paul McCartney as a youth! - Oh, I had such a crush on him.
- Love their music. I've seen him lately.
He doesn't look like that anymore. He looks like me.
- (React) Mm-hmm. - Old and confused.
- (laughs) - It takes some getting used to
'cause I have a better image of him than the way that's coming across.
- (React) So, several months ago, a website called MyHeritage released
this software that they call Deep Nostalgia.
It's basically an AI-powered service that can animate old photos.
And as you can see, people have had some fun with it.
- It really is scary where technology has gone.
I see so many pluses and so many benefits.
I see the money that it can make. But on the other hand,
I feel in my heart there's a dark side of it as well.
I see some dangers in that. Once a person is gone, they're gone.
But to bring them back in a way that they look
like they're alive... For me, I'll check out,
as far as I'm concerned. - Yeah.
Bring to life as best you can old pictures or-- yeah.
I'd love to see my parents smile, move, bat their eyes.
- (React) You may have already kind of figured out
where we're gonna go with this, but we recently asked you
for some photos of your loved ones. - Yeah.
- (React) Mm-hmm. So-- - Oh. Oh.
- Okay, the older lady there in the middle is my dear mother.
She died when she was 89. My father died when I turned 30.
And then, a couple years later, she met and stayed
with this wonderful man, Robert. I was so close to my mother.
And she was barely five feet tall. And Robert was like six feet tall.
And they wore their matching hats, and they would walk
everywhere together hand in hand. They got very well known
in Simi Valley, which is where they came to live with us
for quite a while until he died actually.
I don't like the expression as much as her genuine smile.
It doesn't look like her really. It didn't do well for her at all.
I don't like that. - (gasps)
(whispers) Mama.
That's my mother. That's my mother.
Mrs. Withers. 1933.
Look at how she's standing.
Look at how poised she-- look how elegant!
That's my mother. That's Mama!
Stop it.
(whispers) Oh my God.
I can see me. I can see my eyes, the eyebrows.
Oh, Mama. Oh my-- (whispers) what a joy. What a joy.
Had her until she was 92. Passed away 15 years ago.
Oh my-- oh. Now...
I'm okay with that. I really am.
It's like Mama is alive. She's there, and I'm just thinking--
I'm just thinking about how much I miss her.
I'm so grateful. I am so grateful for all
she instilled in me and my siblings. Just grateful. And I miss her.
I miss her. This is not sadness.
This is not sadness. This is happy. This is joy.
It's crazy, but it's not creepy.
You know, you have made my day. - This is my great aunt
and great uncle, Auntie Ree.
Her name was Rebecca. And Uncle Paul.
I didn't have grandpar-- a grandmother.
And she was kind of my substitute grandmother.
And she was-- oh my god. She was probably the person
who most influenced me in my life.
She taught us how to be observant.
Oh, isn't that great? Oh my god.
(chuckles)
Yeah, my memory of her is as a very old lady.
- So, that's my mother and the sisty uglers.
Aunt Dewey and Aunt June. As you can see,
my mother was the pick of the litter there.
I don't remember them. They were-- gotten married
and lived somewhere else. I really don't have much
of a relationship with them. Wow, that's ugly.
It looks like they've had too much pizza.
Now, that must be Dewey. She never was
a real attractive person. And she's even less so now.
Now, that's gotta be my mother, but she's better looking than that,
so I can't really relate to that.
That's... it looks like she has a mustache.
- One of my favorite pictures of the three of us.
That's my father in the middle, Sam, a little taller than I am,
even with high heels as I was probably wearing,
and my mother, who was much younger in that picture.
And our arms are all gripped in his arms,
just a lovely, lovely picture. I love that.
I don't think I ever looked like that in my life.
(laughs)
Oh, god! She looks like a 1940s...
(laughs)
That's not my mother. Let's see what's happening
with my father.
He looks like Paul Newman there. It doesn't look like my father, but...
(laughs)
- (gasps) (whispers) Daddy.
See, I was only six years old when my father died.
He was a medical doctor.
He was a handsome man, but I was only six
when he passed away. So, I don't remember
that much about him.
(gasps)
(whispers) Oh my gosh.
It's almost like he's looking at me. He's talking to me with his eyes.
Yeah, I see-- oh, there's my son. There's my son.
I see him. The sm-- oh, wow.
- Yes, there she is. There she is old.
Oh, that's me. Yes, there we are.
(chuckles)
No, she wasn't-- she was much more animated than that.
It triggers MY memories. And I think it triggers
more memories than a photograph to be honest with you.
- There's my mother. That's a shot of her
at the beach, I think, in the late '30s.
Now, she died-- I was only 23.
But always-- she was very conscious of her looks,
very concerned, always wanted to have the hair-- before she'd go out,
she was very meticulous about her looks.
Now, see, that's not a bad picture. She looks pretty good.
We had a loving relationship. She was great.
But like any young guy, I was kind of doing my--
finding my own way, and I kind of, you know...
I was too young to really appreciate her
like many of us. That's one thing you gotta do
when you're young. And it's so difficult.
- (React) So, what's it like to see her animated here?
Is this creepy? Is it cool?
- I think it's great. I love it. - (gasps)
(whispers) Oh.
(choked up) That's Matthew. That's my brother.
And he passed away two years ago. What a fine man.
My brother. He was my best friend.
Oh, wow.
Yeah. That's my brother.
He was a man of--
an honorable man, a Christian man,
instilled that-- he and my sister-in-law
instilled that with their family.
What a-- thank-- I'm filled. - (React) Good.
- I'm full! What a joy. - (React) Ah, good.
- This is a treat for me. It's not-- it's not sadness.
I mean, when I kind of well up and I get a little emotional,
they're not sad tears. They're tears of joy,
because I'll see them again. I have no fear about that.
And I'm looking forward to them, to see them again.
I'm not gonna rush my time, you understand? But--
- (React) They'll be there. - Yes.
- (React) They'll be there. - But I'm looking forward to that.
- Oh. Now, these are my parents, Theron and Bette.
Bette with an E. And this, I think, is about--
I think this is around the '50s, early '50s.
And aren't they just glamorous looking?
And my mother's wearing a hat.
That's so cute! (chuckles)
Oh. He was real down to earth and was like, "Oh,
I have to wear a suit?" But my mother LOVED to get glamorous.
Isn't she just gorgeous? - (React) What kind of emotions
does it bring back? - (sighs)
It kind of makes me-- I'm gonna start crying.
Where's the tissue? It makes me sad,
because both my Auntie Ree and my paternal grandpa
lived to be very old, 106 and like 97 or something,
and sharp until the end. And she didn't get that.
- If you remember when we first started this journey,
I said something about, "Well, I don't know.
Some of these-- some of this is a little dark for me."
Now it happened to me. I've seen my brother and my father
and my nephew, and so I'm okay.
- Thanks for watching this episode of Elders React.
- Would you like to see your loved ones animated like this?
Let us know in the comments. - Don't forget to subscribe
for more videos. - Thanks for watching. See you again.
- Thanks for watching. Bye. - Bye.
- Thanks for watching. Be real.