The Ties That Bind

Growing up, I always wanted to be Cyd Charisse.  Here's one half of why:



And if you're not convinced, here's the other:



There are things we always think of as inheriting from our families.  Our eyes.  Our hair.  Our allergies and our back problems.

But there's something else that we rarely think of.  Our loves.

Tonight, while taking a bathroom break from family movie night, I began singing "Gotta Pee!" (to the tune of "Gotta Dance," above), which is not an unknown phenomenon in our house, and it immediately made me want to watch "Singing' in the Rain."  So I made the request and my parents obliged.

I was raised by my parents, my mother especially, to love old Hollywood musicals.  I think "Singing' in the Rain" was my first ever movie obsession.  When my family first got a VCR, and before "Labyrinth" came into my life, I would watch it every day. It was slowly supplanted by "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," but even so, "Singin'" was always the foremost of movie musicals in my world.

About 30 seconds into the 700th or so watching this evening, I remembered why.

I know that loving this film, and others of its era, and desperately wishing that I had a fraction of the talent of Gene Kelly, or Donald O'Connor, or, of course, Cyd Charrise, is part and parcel to being part of my family.  Just like the large, deep-set eyes and the fast metabolism.

And truly?  I wouldn't have it any other way.