Sunshine & Snowflakes

Yesterday I experienced a full-circle moment. The record (yep- record as in vynl, record player, lp) that I had been searching for for the past few months arrived! Here is the story:

When I was a kid we didn't watch much tv. In fact, we didn't even own a tv until we moved back to Philly when I was 10, and even that was a small black and white one that was only rolled out of the closet to watch the Cosby Show on Thursday nights. We listed to tapes and records for entertainment. I think I still know all the words to Psalty the Singing Songbook, Bullfrogs and Butterflies, and Music Machine. We used to sing all the songs and act out all the stories. One of the tapes I remember as being my very favorite was Sunshine and Snowflakes. I'm not sure why I loved it so much. It is a record (which we had recorded on tape) of 40 kids in a children's choir singing mostly traditional Christmas Hymns to fun, upbeat arrangements. Maybe it was the harmony's, maybe it was the enthusiasm of the kids, whatever it was I loved it.

Throughout the years as an adult around Christmas time I find myself still singing those songs and have frequently asked my mom if she knew anything about the original recording. Where could I get it? She didn't know. Last week, thanks to the wonders of Ebay I found it! Sunshine and Snowflakes on LP (which by the way is the only way it is available since it was recorded in 1976)! I put my bid in immediately, and since they are apperantly not in high demand won the auction with a whopping $2.50.

Yesterday the package arrived in the mail and I immediately opened it. I was acting like a kid in a candy store. Jeremiah liked the bright colors on the album cover. I went straight to our record player (yes, we do have one) and put on the record. The music started and it was everything I remembered it to be. I picked up Jeremiah and we danced around the room. And then, I started crying. So many memories of my childhood were flooding back to me at the very same instant that I was dancing with my own son. Who is this person I am now? Can I truly nurture Jeremiah the way he needs? Why can't the world be as simple and joyful as 40 children singing enthusiastically about the coming of Christ? So many uncertainties that seem to be part of this time of self-evaluation as I turn 30.

Jeremiah seemed to like the music, but did keep saying "Veggie Tales" over and over. It seems that one day when he is in his 30's and has children of his own he will be sitting at his computer searching Ebay for long forgotten cds and video tapes of the Veggie Tales. I hope that he will also have an antique record player to play his Sunshine and Snowflakes record on. And, for good measure, I have added the Music Machine and Bullfrogs and Butterflies cd box set to his Amazon wishlist.