THE SOUND OF MUSIC

So my DVR box recorded an episode of Oprah. I just about deleted because I don't watch Oprah anymore for LOTS of reasons and haven't for a long time. UNTIL....I read in the information box what the episode was about. Are you ready??? The entire cast of The Sound of Music was there for their first interview together since they promoted the movie back in 1965. This movie is my all-time favoritest favorite movie. I just can't describe how much I love this movie. And I know that I'm not alone in this sentiment. I LOVE it so much that Edelweiss is the first lullably I ever sing to my babies. I LOVE it so much that I watch it several times a year and make my hubby and kids watch it with me at least once during the holiday season. I LOVE it so much that I begged Rob to let us name one of our girls Liesl. (I love the name and the actress who played her is a spitting image of my mother at that age. Really. She's so beautiful, isn't she? So I love Liesl even more). I love the music, the message, the love story, the actors, the breathtaking scenery of the hills of Austria. Oh, and the MUSIC!! You simply cannot watch this movie without bursting into your best Julie Andrews voice (which for me is 75% falsetto). Rob and the kids laugh at me but I can't help myself.


But......then....I was reminded of something that I surely blocked out for survival purposes. You know how they say your brain protects you from danger and suffering?? Well, here it is: Julie Andrews can NO LONGER SING!!!! She had been performing for 20 months on Broadway and her vocal chords and muscles really took a beating. So she chose to have this surgery that was supposed to quickly repair and rejuvenate them and the surgery failed. This happened in 1997!! I suppose I already knew this. I guess in all the times I watch The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins (another fav) I never noticed that she doesn't sing anymore. What a tragedy. She was given this amazing gift that has touched so many people and it was literally ripped out of her. She suffered intense feelings of depression (as you can only imagine), but emerged from that with an unbelievably optimistic perspective. She quoted the movie, "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window". She began to write children's books with her daughter and has since built a successful publishing company. Her daughter told her that she lost her voice to sing so that she could find this new voice that writes. If that isn't making sweet lemonade out of sour, rotten, bitter lemons, I don't know what is.


Amazing, amazing example. I suppose I should learn something from this. And I will someday. But today I am BITTER!!!




Oh, and one more thing. On the subject of movies, I am a little embarassed to admit that I watched The Lion King for the very first time today. (I really don't know what took me so long). But that movie has a powerful message in it also. What stood out to me was Mufasa's words to his son, Simba, who would be king. "You will never be alone" and "Remember. Remember who you are." Very profound.