So here's the thing. You know how sometimes you can associate something, be that a person or film or song or whatever, with a specific memory and then whenever you come across that person/film/song/whatever again it can blindside you with instant recall of said memory? It's the most bizarre thing; you can be in the middle of something completely absorbing, twenty-odd years after the original memory was created, and then BAM! Instantaneous total recall. Welcome to what happened to me today...
There I was, minding my own business and doing something constructive with my time (honest), when the phone rings. Turns out the 8 year old daughter of one of my friends needs to speak to me on a Matter of Great Importance; never one to refuse a heartrending cry for help, it was immediately action stations and Auntie Kate to the rescue. In the event, the Matter of Great Importance was solved relatively quickly and easily, but as she was walking into the living room to give the phone back to her dad I heard a familiar song playing on her end of the phone. Oh yes, Small Child says brightly, for we are watching Lady and the Tramp this afternoon. Aaaand BAM! Suddenly I am sobbing like a lunatic and have to try to explain myself.
The reason for such hysteria is quite simple. What I heard on the other end of the phone was Bella Notte; for those of you who haven't seen Disney's Lady and the Tramp (you Philistines), this is the song that plays when Tramp takes Lady to an Italian restaurant and they have spaghetti and meatballs while being serenaded by the owner and one of the chefs. Now I don't care that it's a) a cartoon or b) about cartoon dogs, this is one of THE most romantic moments ever committed to celluloid and, even as a small child, it left a remarkably vivid impression on me. Not for the Great Epic Romance it conjures up (although that's definitely a part of it) but because it made me think of my Grandad.
See, when I was but a wee slip of a girl I used to go and stay with my Dad's parents ALL the time. They were without a doubt two of the greatest grandparents in the entire history of the world (my Mum's parents, of course, being the other two) and I absolutely adored them, especially my Grandad. One of the many, many perks we grandchildren got when we went to stay overnight was being allowed to pick a film to watch as a family in the evenings before being packed off to bed; Lady and the Tramp was one of my regular selections and, whenever it got to the restaurant scene my Grandad, who had served in Italy during the Second World War, would ALWAYS sing Bella Notte to me. My grandad died just before my twenty-first birthday and, for reasons I've never quite been able to explain even to myself, I've studiously avoided watching Lady and the Tramp ever since, even though I own it on DVD and think it's one of the best films Disney ever created. My memories of the film, especially that song, are inextricably bound up with my memories of my Grandad, but even so I was stunned by how immediate and visceral my reaction to hearing Bella Notte was; it was proper, actual sobbing and caught me completely off guard.
I have to say, though, for all the tears it caused listening to that song again has actually made me feel like I want to sit down and see the film again for the first time in years. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make myself a hot chocolate, grab myself a biscuit and settle down in front of Lady and the Tramp and pretend, just for a little while, that I'm eight years old again. And when it gets to that particular scene I will probably bawl my eyes out all over again, but I will still sing along and thank the Fates for blessing me with the wonderful people in my life - past and present - who give me such amazing memories...
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