Happy Birthday Dad!

I have this memory of my dad.

He’s in a rocking chair and I’m 4 or 5 and snuggled in his lap. I’m wearing red and white striped pajamas. Maybe it’s because there’s a photograph somewhere, but this moment is ingrained in my memory.

And, he’s singing to me. “Edelweiss” was our song of choice that night, and on many nights for that matter.

The song made popular by “The Sound of Music” was such an important part of my childhood. We sang it in the car on road trips, trying to create perfect harmonies, or we sang it around the house or at big family get-togethers. It was “Our song.”

It’s still our song.

As Kelly and I got older we still loved to sing along with dad and our voices (at least in our minds) seemed to meld seamlessly when we sang “Edelweiss.” On a recent family reunion, the three of us sang karaoke to “Edelweiss”. We sat on dad’s lap together and sang the song like old times.

I’m hoping the song will carry on.

When Julie was a baby, I sang it to her every night before she went to sleep. Sometimes I changed the words saying “Julie May” instead of “Edelweiss”. I’d get a little teary thinking about my dad singing the song to me.

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday. He turned 69.

Guess what song Julie played for him on the piano?

She asked her piano teacher for the music, and learned the song in two days…just in time to Skype with my dad on his birthday.

I think he might have teared up a little bit seeing his granddaughter playing the song that meant so much to us growing up.

It will always be our song