Being Maria

Here are 5 of the 6 grand kids on Stan's side of the family. [#6 was just out of the frame, with a plastic cake plate cover on his head.] In this picture, they are standing on the fireplace hearth, which acts as a stage more often than serving it's intended purpose

The biggest three were performing songs from The Sound of Music, which they had almost completely memorized over the course of 3 days. Kids 4 and 5 just wanted to be part of the action, but made welcome additions to the Von Trapp reenactment, even though they didn't know the songs.

Most of the adults [also numbering 6. We like to keep our teams even.] sat on the couch and half listened but for me, this was far too delightful to just watch. You see, as a child I too was obsessed with The Sound of Music. I loved watching the movie and singing the songs. I never had a gaggle of kids to reenact it with me, though. Right before my eyes my kids, along with niece and nephew, were living out a childhood fantasy.

I sang the words (quietly) from the back of the room and watch their motions with hushed pride. Monkey had been paying very careful attention to the moves and tried diligently to coach the others. The beautiful young voices - which are often strained into awful mimicry of pop artists - followed the lilting melodies perfectly, matching pitch and tone. Without even thinking, I took to singing the part of Maria. Occasionally, one of the kids looked at me and I gave the gentle nod of encouragement, just like Maria would have done.

Monkey beckoned me to the stage with her hands and it occurred to me - I'm Maria. I'm the step mom; I'm the one that helps them with their music lessons; I'm the one who sings and dances with them. It was a stunning moment, and for one brief instance I could imagine our brood dressed in folksy travel gear, climbing the mountainside, singing in perfect 5-part harmony.

I didn't end up going on stage with them. It was the kids' show and I didn't want to steal their glory. But I hope that we will have more opportunities soon to play and sing like that as a family.