Making Memories

Every year since I was 12 or so I've travelled to my Aunt's house to spend a week or two.  In the beginning these trips were a type of extra summer break for me - mostly a break for me away from my parents.  My parents weren't bad people; they just had a lot of problems both in their marriage and with their health.  As a result, at a very early age my nerves were what one might describe as "shot" and it was felt that two weeks in a more stable and quiet environment in the latter part of summer right before the new school year would be highly beneficial.  So, I would go and relax with my Aunt and Uncle (actually they were my father's Aunt and Uncle - my "grand" relatives).  I would read books, improve my cooking skills, watch Jeopardy/play against my Uncle as we watched the show every week night, et cetera. 

In the years since my Uncle's passing, these trips have still served a similar purpose:  a break from all that ails me and all the troubles of the world that seem to have fallen on my shoulders.  Through marriage and divorce...through job loss and my own health problems, the old miner's double house in the cookie cutter community in the mountains outside of Johnstown has been my refuge and a place to reaffirm my vision of self.  The new purpose that these trips also served was to give my Aunt that same benefit:  a reminder of better times and of a quiet, comfortable companionship...of being her "gossip" (friend) as she would say (using the word's past positive meaning) and she mine.  As a result, our friendship has grown through the years to become a daily telephone chat between the long visits leading to my one or two week holiday stays.

What then does all of the above have to do with the song 'Edelweiss?'

In the past I loved this song mostly because of Christopher Plummer's beautiful rendition of it coupled with Julie Andrew's accompaniment.  The words haunt the listener; asking that we never forget and that we always remember that we will be joyfully welcomed back to those places we call home.  The entire "The Sound of Music" Original Soundtrack has always held a special place in my heart - as does the movie - and in the past 'My Favorite Things' was always my favorite song....until this January.

Over the New Year's holiday while I was visiting my Aunt, now in her 80s, she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer that had spread throughout her body. And it hit me finally that for all the memories we've had over the years and for the all the things she has me taught about the past and about life and all the things I have come to teach her about the Information Age and technology, not only she, but I...we...have been running out of time to keep creating those type of memories.  You know the ones:  the type of memories that ease a person's soul and bring peace on the most horrible of days.  I suddenly realized that my "gossip" wasn't going to be around forever and someday soon not only my best friend, but my refuge would be gone.

So, I decided that before she went into surgery to remove a section of her colon and before the start of chemotherapy that we would have a weekend movie binge and as luck would have it, "The Sound of Music" was on TV.  She hadn't seen it in several decades and I convinced her that it was worth the re-watch.  It was during 'Edelweiss,' as we both began singing and I looked away from the screen to where she sat singing and smiling on the edge of her couch-bed, that this song...so poignant and fitting to not only our situation, but to the times we now live in...this song of hope...suddenly brought me the greatest feeling that everything would be alright.  Even if she had died that night, I was comforted by the thought that I would never lose her as long as I had the memories we made.  It was this song and not 'My Favorite Things' that eased my soul and told me that although change was inevitable, so was hope and joy and that my memories of that house in the mountains and the people in it would be there forever and would welcome me just like the Edelweiss.

Postscript...

My Aunt survived the surgery and is currently undergoing chemotherapy, but the prognosis isn't good. 

As for our movie-watching tradition:  over the past couple of years this activity became was a typical trend after she began to wear down from arthritis and from the undiagnosed cancer.  I also was diagnosed with gluten enteropathy and other health problems that basically cut out our holiday baking tradition.  Besides "The Sound of Music," she has a fondness for the "Shrek" movies and music, and the movie "Troy" (although she dislikes historical movies, she is verrrry fond of Brad Pitt), as well as a new understanding of just how explicit Betty White can be when she wants to ("Lake Placid") AND I managed to convince her to watch not only 1, but all of the Hannibal Lector movie franchise.