My son, the betrothed asked if I would like to suggest a song for his dance with me at the wedding reception and I told him I would have a think and then promptly forgot all about it until he came over with the proposed song list.
Now there’s nothing wrong with Rascal Flatts, don’t get me wrong and the song he chose was probably great from his point of view but was it meaningful to our relationship? Did it shout childhood and mother-dom?
A co-worker from my days with Corporate America had brought a present for the children. It was an Aussie children’s musical of great renown down-under. Her nieces and nephews listened to it all the time she told me.
In our house filled with four under six it quickly became a smash hit!
Nothing was going to be able to say it better than a song from Lizard Gully. Sorry Rascal Flatts.
My son and I were going to dance to a blast from our pasts!
I embarked on a quest. I hunted for the song that said it all and found what I was looking for on a nifty little website where my purchase could be downloaded straight into my email…all the way from Australia.
Thus started an exchange between me and Rick Turk, the creator of the nifty little website and composer of the musical that evoked only the best of times for the family McNeny.
I placed my order and looked for the drop of a box in my email. Two days later I received the first of our electronic notes that went something like this:
- Vivienne, As it is the Easter weekend here in Australia, your parcel will be posted next Tuesday. Thanks and we hope you enjoy it.
No wonder I had been charged a shipping fee (in Australian dollars to boot!).
I responded,
- I thought I was getting this via an email download. I ordered the mp3 version and wanted one of the songs for my son’s wedding on Friday April 5th. I was not expecting my order to be mailed.
Rick replied,
- Many apologies for the mistake. We will email your audio book today. Let us know if you have any problems.
I thought I would tell him a little bit about our attachment to his work.
- Thank you Rick, my children grew up with this musical and it is very special to all of us. We only have the cassette tape version so I was thrilled to find the mp3 version on your website.
- Vivienne, that’s lovely to hear…I’m glad they enjoyed it so much. I will be sending the email version of the audio book today. As we have already packaged the Book and CD and addressed the parcel to you, to go out with some others on Tuesday, I will send it anyway….free of charge of course. The kids will obviously prefer the CD over the old cassette, it has all now been re-recorded and updated.
Then, as an afterthought he sent me this:
- Vivienne, As the wedding is soon, would you like the song that he liked sent
to you as a separate mp3 file to play at the wedding? Might make it simpler for you….no problem for me to do it. …and it’ll be there in an instant to make sure it’s playable at the wedding. Let me know the song, is it..”You Can Make The Sunshine” by any chance..?? Hope the wedding goes well and give the happy couple our best wishes. Bye for now, Rick.
I was chuffed and amazed that he had guessed the song!! I said electronically,
- Well how did you guess!? In the context of the groom/mother dance, tears come to my eyes just thinking about it! How very kind of you, I’d love an isolated track. Also I am excited to have your gift of the CD too no wonder the book was such a hit with our family with you as it’s composer.
- It’s a stormy Easter Sunday in Dallas! You made the sun shine! Vivienne,
Rick was flattered,
- Thank you for the lovely email. Not often that you get emails like that. I have attached an mp3 version of, You Can Make the Sunshine, for the wedding….hopefully there won’t be a dry eye in the house.! Hope you have perfect weather for the wedding. All the best for now, Rick.
Emboldened I decided to go into a little more of our family history, I enjoy helping an artist feel appreciated,
- This has been a fun exchange, I’m glad I said “I’d think about it” when my son chose a Rascal Flatts song for our dance…nothing against Rascal Flatts except none of their songs hold any special meaning for me as I don’t know any of their music! You Can Make the Sun Shine, means so much more to all of us as a family and I have to tell you, I played the samplers from your website and two of my children lip synched along still remembering every word!! (All my children would have done this, there were only two in my office with me this morning!) Happy, happy times!
I’ve sent the track off to the DJ for the wedding and know it will be a total hit with the family when my son and I do a little dance to Lizard Gully and pass on Rascal Flatts.
Tissue anyone?
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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