Moments To Remember

So?  Where have you been?  Red Robot and I have been waiting patiently.  Ah well, doesn't matter, you are here now, right?

Today is a very special day.  It was a year ago today that my Nan decided she needed a bigger challenge. She had done all she could for us, she reprogrammed an entire nursing home and now it was time to go see old family and friends and see what she could do about re-organizing the heavens above.  Let me just tell you, this little lady was a force to be reckoned with and if anyone could do it, it is my Nan.  Oh, before I go on, I forgot to tell you...RR has been doing some time traveling (the lucky little bastard).  I was not aware of this until I pulled out some pics to share with you and noticed something new in each one.

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Anyway, back to Nan....she was one hell of a woman.  She was compassionate, caring to a fault, funny as hell, tough as nails when needed, the ultimate care-giver (sometimes by choice but most times by necessity or circumstance) and although sometimes it was hard to see, she loved and treasured her family above all else.  She had a way with people that was, well, how do I put this, all her own (yeh, that's it)!  She had a razor sharp wit and an uncanny sense of people.  In her heyday, she had a way of making people feel great until they got about a block away and they thought to themselves, "Hey, what did she just say to me?"  As the years went by the tact sorta faded and a more "Sophia Petrillo" thing took its place.  Loving this woman was 98% of the time as easy as breathing but that 2% was like trying to swallow a meteorite with a glass of warm buttermilk!  I will always give her this, she kept us on our toes right up to the very end.  She was my friend, my confidant, my protector.....MY NAN!

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Nan loved music!!  I can remember from the time I was little, there was always music playing. I think that's where my Dad and my Aunt Bobbie got their love of music and it all got passed down to me.  When I lived with Nan and Uncle Bob for a few years, my favorite thing was, on a bright sunny day, we would open all the windows in the house, I would play Nan's favorite music and we would do stuff around the house and sing and dance and laugh and she would tell me the various memories she associated with certain songs.  She loved all kinds of music but she had her favorite singers.  Dean, Nat, Johnny...the woman had great taste.  She also loved the Carpenters and she loved to hear my friend Laurie sing Memory.

So, today, for you Nan, I am going to play some of your favorites. Some are 45s others are from your albums but all are vinyl.  Hey, would ya look at that....the sun is shining for the first time in 4 days, I have the windows open and I hope you can the music!              

I tried something new with the music.  Instead of having to click to start each track, I mixed the clips together into one track. So, just hit play and then come back and read.

 (Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

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1.  Moments To Remember - The Ames Brothers (RCA Records)  This is not my favorite version of this song but it is a great song. (My favorite is by the Four Lads but I only have that on cd) I loved playing this for Nan because she would always start singing it and mid lyric she would stop and tell me another story.  The woman never got a celebrity's name right (Charles Richardson was actually Richard Dawson) but she remembered her past (good, bad and indifferent) with amazing clarity!

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2.  On An Evening In Roma - Dean Martin (Capitol Records)  Ahhhh Dean Martin!  The man had it all - looks, class, style, a voice like no other, a killer sense of humour and there will never be another like him.  This version of "Roma" is from an album Dean did in the 60s called "Dino - Italian Love Songs".  It is one of two of his classics that he re-recorded for this album.  I bought a cd of Dean's best loved songs and Nan and I played that thing to death.  It's funny but I play it pretty frequently still and I never get tired of listening to it.  How could I?  It's perfect.

3.  Organ Grinder's Swing - Four Aces (featuring Al Alberts) (Decca Records)  Did I mention that Nan loved to dance too?  Whenever I would play this she would grab my hands and I would try to keep up with her (I never could) then she would just give up on me and cut a rug by herself!

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4.  If I Didn't Care - The Ink Spots (Decca Records)  The great thing about listening to music with Nan was that if I didn't have a song she wanted to hear then she would have it and we would go from the music playing in the front of the house in my room to the back of the house with it playing on her stereo in the living room! I am telling you, there were days that house was jamming.  Anyway, she really got me into the Ink Spots and this was one of our favorites! "Honey-chile, more than words can say!"

5.  Wayward Wind - Gogi Grant (Columbia Records)  Not sure what it was about this song that Nan liked so much but she knew almost every word! Whenever company was coming, Nan was always ready and waiting long in advance of their arrival.  Like when my parents would come for the weekend and were expected at 11am, Nan was dressed, ready and waiting by 9am! She would putter around and then watch by the window in my room like a little kid.  I always made sure she had music to listen to (made the time pass faster for her, in my mind).  For some reason, whenever I hear this song that is what I picture....Nan waiting by that window that overlooked the lake and the street AND if the trees were trimmed just right, you could see almost all the way up to 37!   Makes the next song that much more appropriate!

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6.  Come On-a My House - Rosemary Clooney (Columbia Records)  One of my personal favorites. Love Rosie's voice.  Of course the song couldn't be played without Nan mentioning how substantial Rosemary had gotten and how thin she was as a "kid".  I love the crazy harpsichord that opens the song and plays throughout.

7.  Ramblin' Rose - Nat "King" Cole (Capitol Records)  Another one-of-a-kind voice and personality. I will forever be grateful to my family for having such great taste in music!  Everytime I hear this song I can only picture it coming out of Nan's GE Console Stereo (which thankfully I now have and it still plays beautifully).  Funny thing is, I always think of this as one of his new songs!  Like Dean, he could have sung the phone book and it would have been incredible.

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8.  Chances Are - Johnny Mathis (Columbia Records)  One of the greatest songs of all time!  Johnny was always one of my Mom's favorites too.  I know I have said this before but around the time that she stopped buying his albums I started and I still do.  The man is still amazing!  I remember dancing with Nan to this song at The Happy Hour, the bar that I used to DJ in on Saturday nights in Toms River.

9.  Don't Cry Out Loud - Melissa Manchester (Arista Records)  Nan loved this song.  It was one of the few songs that, ironically, made her cry.  For some reason it always reminded her of her mother.  She never told me why but after hearing it she would tell me wonderful stories about Grandma-with-Uncle, another amazing woman!

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10.  Memories Are Made Of This - Dean Martin (Capitol Records)  I had to put another one in here!  Plus it is the original single.  There really is not much I can add here that I haven't already said...the man was just amazing.

11.  When You Were Sweet Sixteen - Perry Como (RCA Records)  This song was written in 1898 and recorded by Perry in 1947.  It is such a beautiful song and Nan loved it very much.  In fact, it was while I was looking through some of Nan's records that I spotted the title and I asked her if she knew the song.  She did, of course, and told me to go put it on. I never did ask her what the song meant to her but you could see it meant alot.

That went by very quickly as did this past year.  I am so glad that I have these memories to keep you with me.  I love you very much (but you knew that already)!  I am sure that Nat, Dean, Karen and Perry are singing to you whenever you want them to, that you know every name of every person up there with you and you have reprioritzed the seating accordingly!  Give everyone my love and keep an eye on us, ok?