Friday, March 20, 2015

Grandma and The Sound of Music

Twentieth Century Fox Film released The Sound of Music in March 1965. There was a New York premier on 2 March and one in Los Angeles on 10 March. I'm not sure when the movie opened in Washington, D.C., or in which theater, but Grandma and I were there for opening night. She dressed up in a long blue dress and I was dressed in one of the beautiful dresses Mom made for me.

Sound of Music movie poster; courtesy of Wikipedia

Grandpa Jennings had died four years before. After that, Grandma had to sell their home, get a job, learn to drive, and buy a car. She was only 55 years old. Her first car was a Chevrolet Corvair, and her driving skills -- well, it was always an interesting experience -- but she was fearless. She made me fearless, too.

We waited in line to buy our tickets and watched the movie together. Driving home that night, way after my bedtime, we sang songs from the movie in very off-key voices. A very special "Grandma" memory. Watching the ABC special with Diane Sawyer about the making of the movie earlier this week on the movie's the 50th anniversary brought it all back.

ABC's "The Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews (part 1)
ABC's "The Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews (part 2)

3 comments:

  1. The Sound Of Music was me and my Grandma's favorite movie to watch together :) Going to the opening night sounds wonderful! A lovely memory to have.

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    1. Thank you, Caitlin. Sounds like we share good memories of that movie and most importantly our grandmas. I had forgotten completely about it until I saw the ABC special. Getting old and losing one's mind is no fun.

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  2. What a beautiful and vivid memory. I really loved this heartwarming post. Thank you for sharing your memory of your grandma and The Sound Of Music. She sounds like an amazing woman, especially having to start over at 55. Definitely fearless.

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