One of my favorite movies ever is “The Sound of Music.” The music ranges from fun melodies, to romantic duets, and strong powerful ballads. The scenery is breathtaking; a camera panning over the Alps, scenes in Austrian hillsides of lush green, romantic kisses shared in a fairy tale-like gazebo, a cathedral wedding sequence with aerial shots of an incredibly long and beautiful dress train floating down the aisle. And if that isn’t enough, Julie Andrews is a wonder, truly America’s crown jewel, even if she is English. One of the songs in the film titled “My Favorite Things” talks just of that: the things the main character, Maria, loves such as "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens." These are the things she fills her mind with when times are bad.
I have had numerous good times in my life and just as many bad times. However, if asked, I wouldn’t be able to pick just one thing in particular as my favorite. Instead, I begin to think of favorite moments, meaningful memories, and small instances in my life that have stuck in my mind, like...
1. Sitting on my grandparents' swing in late September, with leaves falling around me, and feeling like I was flying through crisp autumn air.
2. Moments when I would laugh so hard with my friends or siblings that my stomach would ache, I’d lose my breath, and roll across the green grass in the summer sun.
3. The way my mom would hum softly and play with my hair when I was young and afraid, and knowing that she was invincible, my own Wonder Woman.
4. Watching my dad read his morning paper and drink his morning coffee, black, meticulously and compassionately explaining the contents of each article, even if no one seemed to be listening.
5. How my parents sing oldies in the car together, laughing and reminiscing on when they first heard the songs together years ago.
6. Getting lost in conversation and suddenly realizing it's 3 a.m.
7. Nights when the sky aligns so perfectly that I can see the moon out my window as I lay in bed, especially when the moon looks like a brightly lit toenail.
8. Finding old editions of my favorite book, smelling the salty tears that mark the pages and turning pages gently in an attempt to avoid tearing the worn, brown pages.
9. The first time I was kissed by my second love and I learned that love can come more than once and that you won’t always ache from missing someone.
10. Getting short and unexpected phone calls from someone who is simply curious about how you are or dying to let you know they’re thinking of you.
11. Family vacations to York Beach, Maine, feeling sunbeams beat down mercilessly, sending comforting heat rays and warmth radiating through my body.
12. Being kissed by someone as if it were a reflex, something they didn’t have to think about, like breathing.
13. Getting completely absorbed in the storyline of a movie and feeling as if you are in a different world, living vicariously through the characters.
14. The smell of rain on the concrete creeping its way through a cracked window on a lazy Sunday morning.
15. Sitting by the window during thunderstorms will the lights low, reading a book only to have the pages lit by cracks of lighting across deep gray skies.
These little moments make up one big memory that is my life. Each of these things I can look back on and smile about, remembering times when I felt truly happy and in sync with the world around me. I can turn to my favorite things when I’m feeling sad, because, as Maria stated, “I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.”
