I'm old enough that I've managed to observe most of the milestones in my life without video capturing it, and I have no regrets about that. But I was curious when Dave White, a friend of TMP, posted a link on his blog to the wedding video that has gone viral, the one in which a bunch of very good sports dance down the aisle to a Chris Brown song.

(Cynical thought #1: A Chris Brown song, at a wedding? Not my first choice.)

It's rather sweet. I think Dave, in fact, nailed the source of its charm: These folks are not necessarily keen to perform, but they are game, coming through for their friends.

(Cynical thought #2: Has anyone else here read Mary McCarthy's The Group? There's a priceless bit about a demonstration at a New York hotel. An older woman, studying the photos in the paper, realizes that it's the woman in the opera cape who orchestrated the whole thing, largely because she wanted to wear an opera cape. The cause was secondary to her desire to dress up. The bride in the video seems very likable, but I have a hunch that she had a big ol' case of My Day-itis.)

But -- and this goes beyond cynicism -- I can't help thinking about the participants watching this video a decade, two decades hence. In some cases, perhaps most cases, it will bring joy. But the odds are, given the sheer size of the wedding party -- further bolstering my hunch about My Day-itis, but maybe the groom just had a lot of friends -- that the video will be bittersweet for some, one day.

Given the lack of videos in my life, I throw it open to you: Are you glad that you've recorded certain milestones, sad that you didn't capture others? What's it like, watching these videos five, ten, twenty years down the road? Are videos better than photos, or just different? Is there a visual souvenir, video or photo, that you can't imagine your life without?

I'll put a cut-and-paste link in the comments for those who are not yet among the millions to watch the wedding video.