Sandra: haunting lyrics by Enoch Anderson and music by Barry Manilow. Today, I feel like Sandra. If you're a mother, a wife, a multi-tasker and perhaps a bit of June Cleaver from "Leave it to Beaver", you know exactly what I'm talking about. There are those days that you are pulled in a hundred different directions and you wonder what happened to the "you" that was hiding inside. Or, was there ever really a "you" to begin with?
Don't get me wrong, I love my family. And I wouldn't trade that aspect of my life for anything. But it seems somehow in being that wife, mother and all-around multi-tasker (event planner, vacation guide, nurse, financier, housekeeper, cook, counselor, etc. etc.) it's hard to hold on to your dreams and your goals. It's hard to say STOP and take a hard look at what you need and want. And even when you do, it doesn't always turn out like you planned it would.
I've often wondered how Enoch Anderson (a guy) understood the mind of Sandra. Did he have a mother that inspired that song? He had to know someone that shared those feelings with him. Because they are common to so many women and ring true in the deepest sense of our emotions.
She says, I swear I love my husband, I love my kids I wanted to be like my mother But if I hadn't done it as soon as I did Oh there might have been time to be me For myself, for myself There's so many things that she wishes She don't even know what she's missin' And that's how she knows....that she missed.
Since I've been AWOL for a few days, I thought I would comment briefly on the Mayflower show at the convention. After reading Dana's wonderful review of Friday night I wish even more that I had been there. I would have loved to have heard all the songs from the Mayflower album. I would have loved to have seen him perform them. The very first time I saw him live in concert, he was introducing the Mayflower album and Turn the Radio Up holds very special memories for me. But...there are two reasons why I wish I had been at those shows: Sandra and Talk to Me.
My very first show in Vegas I met my first Barry friend. We connected immediately. He was still doing a few Mayflower songs in the show and at the end of the evening, Mandy told me about her love for the album. It was the first thing we shared in common and it brought us together as friends. As the months progressed with many emails and phone conversations, we returned to Vegas for a few days and spent more time getting to know each other. We talked about he Mayflower album often and she told me her favorite song on that album was Talk to Me. I must admit I had hardly listened to that song before Mandy came along, but she said it resonated with her life at the time and I should listen to it. So I did. And since then, every time I hear that song I think about Mandy and the beginnings of our friendship.
The day we were both to go home, she kept telling me about this one song that reminded her of me: Sandra. I had never heard it before. I had never heard of the 4 anthology albums either. She pulled out her trusty Ipod and let me listen to the song for the first time. I was mesmerized by the story it told. It was my life in so many ways. Mandy was right. And now every time I listen to Sandra I think about Mandy too and the catalog of Barry's music that she introduced me to on that trip and during the months that followed.
It would have been wonderful to sit in the show together hearing both those songs performed live. It would have been great to relive those first bonding moments that we had because of the music. But, perhaps, if we're lucky, he'll keep them in the show and we'll get to see them together soon. If not, I will always be reminded of those first few months of beginnings when I listen to those songs. And think about the symmetry of it all that Barry put both those songs together in his show. As YBA said, it was a "twilight zone" feeling when I read about it.
To this special friendship, Texas Fan
P.S. Thanks YBA for the Sandra mention in your blog!
Don't get me wrong, I love my family. And I wouldn't trade that aspect of my life for anything. But it seems somehow in being that wife, mother and all-around multi-tasker (event planner, vacation guide, nurse, financier, housekeeper, cook, counselor, etc. etc.) it's hard to hold on to your dreams and your goals. It's hard to say STOP and take a hard look at what you need and want. And even when you do, it doesn't always turn out like you planned it would.
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