“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” -John 13:34
In 1965 I was six years old; my sister was five and my little sister had just turned three. I remember my Dad taking us to see The Sound of Music at the movie theater in England. Of course, at that time there were people who came by at intermission and sold ice cream and candy, as well as drinks. That was the most important part of the outing, or so I thought at the time.
As a child, my sisters and I spent a lot of time singing the songs from The Sound of Music. My grandparents thought we were the most wonderful singers ever. I know this is not true because I cannot carry a tune to save my life, but I did give 100% effort always. (I do love to sing however, I usually do it when I am alone so as not to hurt anyone’s ears!) It became a ritual that every time we would visit either set of grandparents, we always had to sing the songs from the movie.
This movie brings back such fond memories for me, one being the smiles the songs brought to my grandparent’s faces. Another is watching as a family with my father and my sisters gathered around the television watching for the 10th, 11th, and 12th time and singing every word to every song. Anytime I hear those songs, I am carried back to my childhood and the love that was shared as we belted out the words to Edelweiss, My Favorite Things, Climb Every Mountain or Sixteen Going On Seventeen and we can’t forget So Long Farwell.
I still continue to watch the movie every year that it is on, and I was surprised when I married Jeff that he had never watched it before. He was not raised with musicales, and it was not something he was interested in either. I could not understand…this was a classic…why wouldn’t everyone want to know every song? I have learned to accept that people have different tastes in movies and music.
Even though Jeff and I do not agree on what movies to see, or what to watch on TV, we have a lot of things we do like to do together. One thing I do know is our love for each other is strong and our differences of opinion do not change that in anyway.
-Gabrielle Moon, Executive Director of St. Luke’s Children’s Centers
