Do you remember the song, “Raining In My Heart“?  I do, even though it’s before my ‘specific’ time.  I wasn’t a teenager, but my oldest brother (10 years my senior) was and he loved Buddy Holly, and that’s putting it mildly.  He played his music, in particular this song, over n’ over again, until my mother couldn’t take it.

Mom did warn him.  “Alan, if you play that song one more time, I am going to smash it over your head.”  It was back in the day, when we had 45’s and LP’s and record players with poor sound (but we didn’t realize it was poor sound).

You need to know that my mother is not a mean spirited person, nor was she a physical type of mother.  She only ‘beat me’ once when, as a teenager, I sneaked in* at 3 a.m.  And then it was out of sheer frustration that she took a kitchen towel and smacked me upside the head, yelling … “Are you on that Marijuana?”  (She also flushed my brother’s ginger candy down the toilet, because it looked ‘funny’ and she thought it was marijuana.  A sign of the times.)

In her defense, my brother did play “Raining in My Heart” at least 1,000 times (no exaggeration) – one time after the other, and in doing so sent her over the edge.  This memory is emblazoned in my mind, which is why I remember the lyrics …

the sun is out, the sky is blue
there’s not a cloud to spoil the view
but it’s raining
raining in my heart

My brother died six years ago from pancreatic cancer.  Last week was his birthday, and I played “Raining In My Heart” over and over again – just like he did, remembering.

I remembered my brother, the song, my mother smashing the record over his head (I witnessed it; thrilling childhood memory), times gone by, all bittersweet.

After I teared up and moved through the inevitable emotional waves that ebbed and flowed through me, I felt a smile spread across my face.  Joy, gratitude and love filled my heart.

The power of a smile!
In remembrance and in celebration of those who have passed before us, I invite you to smile.

“Did you know your smile can be a predictor of how long you’ll live — and that a simple smile has a measurable effect on your overall well-being? Prepare to flex a few facial muscles as you learn more about this evolutionarily contagious behavior.” ~ Ron Gutman:  The Hidden Power of Smiling.

Here’s the perfect smile video to watch today! Ron Gutman’s TED Talk entitled, The Hidden Power of Smiling.  It is a mere 7:27 minutes long, pretty much guaranteed to bring a smile to your heart.  A good investment in your time!!!

Smile!

Side Bar Note:  *Sneaked vs. Snuck from the Grammarist.com.  “Sneaked is the traditional past tense and past particple of sneak. Snuck is new, originating in the U.S. in the early 20th century, but it has become remarkably common across all major English varieties. People seem to like it, and it appears in even the most editorially scrupulous publications, so there is no basis for saying snuck is incorrect. It’s just new. English has many irregular verb forms, and adding one more won’t cause the language to explode.”

Spread the word … not the icing!

Janice

Life & Wellness Coach
Self-Help / Weight Loss Artist
wise * fun * utterly useful

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