Growing up I knew very little about the widely popular Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, beyond singing its title song in grade school music class.
In fact it wasn’t until I was in my late 20’s that my wife first introduced me to the Von Trapp family in the 1965 film musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. It’s a shame that it took me so long to discover what millions of viewers had already known.
This weekend, while visiting my 91 year old grandmother, we decided to watch it again with her. I assumed she had already seen the movie years back, but had no idea just how much she’d enjoy it.
She bobbed her head up and down during songs like How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria and at one point was completely entranced by the musical – holding a pose as though she were frozen in time. As she put it later on, “Ya know it’s the kind of thing you can watch over and over again and always enjoy it.” Well said grandma.
One song that admittedly gets me every time is Climb Every Mountain. It’s sung midway through the musical and reprised again at the very end. It’s a song filled with hope, something we all could use a little more of these days. Here’s a sampling for those of you who don’t know the lyrics:
A dream that will need, all the love you can give,
Every day of your life, for as long as you live.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream.
I’m not one for patience, but this weekend The Sound of Music reminded me that dreams don’t always come true (no matter what Disney might tell you). That doesn’t mean they can’t, you just have to put a little effort into them sometimes.
