Music

Spring Fling

Jeanna G5 Comments

My daughter had her first school dance this past Friday evening. She’s in 5th grade, but you’d think it was the high school prom, considering her preparations. An hour before we were to arrive, she tells me she needs a solid color dress in teal. Thanks for all the notice! Magically, we find what we need…on clearance! We go, she dances and has fun, I meet another cool mom. Success!

I pray all of her future dances are just as simple and fun. Oh, and that all of her dresses are on clearance.

I remember my first dance, and the many more that followed. All fun, but I never really danced… except to the slow songs with my crush du jour.

My first dance was in 6th grade. It was immediately following dismissal. We changed in the bathroom, usually swapping clothes with friends who had cooler stuff than our own. We did the “Electric Slide,” we screamed and ran around, or we sat on the bleachers with our backs to the wall. Finally, we moseyed up to our crushes in time to sway along to “Stairway to Heaven,” while thanking heaven that it was such a long song.

How great are the times when there’s nothing else to think about than what you’re doing and who you’re with.

Reel Time

Jeanna GLeave a comment

One of my first jobs was working at the Video Galaxy, renting out VHS tapes to my friends and neighbors. I also worked for Mike’s Video in college, and later for Blockbuster. Needless to say, I’ve watched a lot of movies in my time. I’ve been so busy raising my daughter and working multiple jobs over the last decade, that I haven’t seen many new movies or tv series…outside of cartoons, anyway.

I keep seeing things on social media about these Netflix binges, and it seemed like such a nice thought to lie on my couch and not get up for days, that I made a New Year’s Resolution to watch more TV. Honestly! I just want to be home and lie on my couch and enjoy being still. So I forced myself to sit and watch a few different series that had been recommended, but then I hit a speed bump. There are so many options and streaming services, that I just felt overwhelmed and didn’t know where to go from there. Plus, I’m never quite sure if it’s a show I can watch while my daughter’s awake, never mind if she’s in the room with me. So, I decided to forget television shows, and take it back to what I know… movies.

My daughter and I have become self-proclaimed movie critics. We’ve been watching all of the best movies from my childhood, the 80s and early 90s, and it has been amazing! I love that we laugh at the same parts and gasp together and cry on cue. We watched the Molly Ringwald/John Hughes’ movies, Dirty Dancing, Jaws, Footloose, Pretty Woman, and The Princess Bride, among many others, with plenty more in queue. The more we watch, the more I feel at home. And not just a location, but a feeling of contentment. A feeling that I am back where I belong. And bonus! I’m with the person I love the most, and she gets to have a glimpse into who I was when I was her age.

Sometimes we have to go back to who we were to remember who and where we want to be now. And we can go back in lots of ways, not just through movies. My daughter and I sing along to music from my childhood that is now, shockingly, qualified as “classic.” I also read her books that I first read thirty-something years ago. And then there are the toys and games and hobbies and so much more. I love rediscovering these old loves, but I love, even more, that she loves them just as much.

Pea Pancakes

Jeanna G4 Comments

My Uncle passed on a week ago. As sad as death can be, I prefer to find joy in what a life has brought to the world. My Uncle lived a long 91 years, and accomplished more than most could hope to do. But in keeping with my theme, I’ll tell you about my favorite memories of him from childhood.

Uncle Dick played a pivotal role in finding my dad a job working for the State of Connecticut, and finding our first home in Granby, where I grew up. He and his family lived not too far from there, so we were able to visit them often. He had two young daughters that were close to my age. We would have sleepovers and, in the mornings, Uncle Dick would make us pancakes. Except these weren’t ordinary pancakes, these were pea pancakes. He would hide a single pea in a few in the stack, and we would have to eat our way through the stack to find them. Who knew a child could get so excited about a pea?!

One Summer we went over to play, and he set up a slip and slide for us. But again, this wasn’t an ordinary slip and slide, this was the world’s largest slip and slide. He used giant tarps and covered the backyard with them. We slipped and slid to our heart’s content.

One Spring we went for an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. But again, this wasn’t an ordinary hunt. There were eggs stuffed with candy, but there were also giant stuffed bunnies to find. I brought home a bunny bigger than myself that day. I never knew such a thing could exist.

My Uncle also like to play a variety of stringed instruments, and he would always grace us with a song or two on our visits. “The Unicorn” was a must. One day my mom said we were going to watch her brother play. And guess what? It was no ordinary jam session. We ended up in the streets of downtown Hartford watching my Uncle and his band, The Connecticut River Ramblers, play a show on stage. I’m grateful to him for the introduction to, and my appreciation of, Bluegrass music and live shows.

How wonderful to be a person who so easily makes life extraordinary for others.

Peace be with you, Uncle Dick. Time to go see those silly unicorns!