You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy,
When skies are gray!
You’ll never know dear,
How much I love you,
Please don’t take
my sunshine away.
I know I promised you all a story today, but I could not resist Cee’s photo challenge this week, as her theme is the chorus from the song, ‘You Are My Sunshine”.
If our family has a ‘song’, this would surely be it.
It’s not like we were the Von Trapp Family Singers or anything. My mom is seriously the only one who can carry a tune. The rest of us attract packs of howling dogs and villagers with torches and pitchforks.
But this song – we all sing. Loudly with gusto and false vibrato, like drunks in a bar, consequences be damned.
We sang it often when I was growing up, my dad especially. He is tone-deaf, and sings everything in pretty much the same monotone bass – except this one, because he always sings it with love.
He sang it to my mom. He sang it to us kids. We sang it back.
My favorite memory is of all of us singing it together in the old blue station wagon on the way to the lake. This was back when kids didn’t need to be in seat belts, and my older sisters were sitting in the back seat, and my brother and I were in what was known as the “way back”. We were flying down Pines Road – the last paved road before getting to the cottage – and we were pretty jacked up.
“YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE! MY ONLY SUNSHINE…”
Now, Pines Road had a few small hills in it and was famous for one in particular. The Belly Catcher.
“YOU MAKE ME HAPPY, WHEN SKIES ARE GRAY…”
We hit the belly-catcher hill at top speed, my sisters’ butts lifting off their seats with the g-force and my brother and I airborne in the back”
“YOU NEVER KN-
“…ooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooo!!!”
“..DEAR, HOW MUCH I LOVED YOU, PLEASE DON’T TAKE MY SUNSHINE AWAY!”
We grew up and moved away but the singing didn’t stop. We sang it in our own families, with our own children. And now they sing it to theirs. But no matter which of us is singing, my heart always hears it in my dad’s growly bass.
So here, in honor of my dad, my mom and the rest of my family, is my interpretation of “You are my sunshine”, in photographs:
You are my sunshine…
My only sunshine…
You make me happy…
When skies are gray…
You’ll never know dear…
How much I love you…
Please don’t take my sunshine away.
For more fun entries, visit Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge!
Keep singing!
Sue
Brick House 
Oh Sue what a lovely glimpse of your family and your growing up years. Pitchforks you say? 🙂
Lol – yes, pretty much. We are all rather bad in the melody department. Except my mom. She just shakes her head at the rest of us.
Beautiful tribute Sue.
Thank you, Peggy!!
Oh I so enjoyed reading this post and seeing your family photos. MARVELOUS>
Thank you so much!
This is fabulous! And classic! And we sang it in the Olds on the way to the shore – sans seat belts, of course. 😉❤️
Love it!!!
What a beautiful tribute to your parents and family. The love is obvious!
The dogs howling means my singing is bad? I just thought they were singing along! 🙂
So THAT’S what they are doing!! All this time I thought the howling was a negative reaction – lol! Perhaps you cam put a positive spin on the glares from family memebers as well? 🙂
I can try…..maybe that facial expression was caused by, gas? Biting of one’s tongue? Maybe a sharp rock in the shoe?
So the next time you sing and a family member “makes THAT face” deflect their negativity by saying “George did you just pass gas?!”
People will run from George and happily listen to your singing.
(That’s all I got Sue!!)
Hey, I think thats enough! Can’t wait to try it on “George” – haha!
Let me know if it works!!