Proud Of Your Boy

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This marking the day before the 2nd anniversary of Ma2’s passing, I have made a promise to myself to annually honor her memory around this time.  To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes: She’s really not gone as long as we remember her.  May sound sappy to some but Emily really was like a second mother to me.  A strong, courageous woman… in fact the strongest and most courageous I have ever known.  I can still remember our last conversation over the phone.  We were to meet the next day to discuss my new found friends and my then anticipation of going to the big city.  Unfortunately, she had just found out that she was going to be returning to Columbus for another extended stay at the James.  Little did I know that this would be the last conversation we would have.  She was so determined to beat the leukemia.  I believe her words were: “I’m going to kick this thing in the ()”  I knew that if anyone could, it was her.  She also told me how proud she was in how far I had come in my theatrical ventures and pleaded with me to not give up.  That I had finally allowed myself to let my candle be uncovered by that bushel basket.  “He knows what he is talking about.”

Proud of Your Boy.  I believe that I have posted about the “lost song” from Disney’s Aladdin that was shall I say a prayer sung by the title character to his mother.  I believe that the mother was written out in order to better portray the hero as being a “worthless street rat” with only his companion Abu by his side.  I think it is much more than a simple prayer.  I believe that deep down inside us all there is that little bit of ourselves that feels a need to prove to someone (be it a parent, other relative, close friend, mentor, whatever… perhaps even ourselves) that we are more than the sum of our parts.  That we will get over these “lousin up, messin up, screwin up times.”

I am so glad that with the release of the Platinum Edition DVD, the song was pulled from the archives.  It really is a gem as sung by Clay Aiken.  That tells you how long it has been since its release…. he hasn’t really been in the spotlight for a few years.  I was lucky enough to be able to work on the piece while Emily was still (physically) guiding me.

I LOVE the orchestral accompaniment and the screen playing scenes in the background. HMMM…

Love you, Ma

10 thoughts on “Proud Of Your Boy”

  1. I can see why the story is better with Aladdin being an orphaned “worthless street rat”. Besides, it fits in with the mother-less trend that seems so prevalent in many Disney movies.
    I can see your point when you say about having needs to prove something, even if it’s just to ourselves. Sometimes it’s difficult to gain perspective on what we really might be meant to do in this world viewing from inside ourselves. One of the most difficult things is to let God do the steering in this respect and see where it takes us, however far from our own vision of what we want to do. I struggle with this a lot!
    This was a wonderful post to honor your Ma2. Thanks for sharing!

  2. “Morat”…..where have you been?? In the last few years, Clay Aiken starred in Spamalot on Broadway….

    He toured this summer and right now, he has a PBS special that is being shown on TV’s throughout the US. The show, being used as a Pledge program, is making lots of money for the stations.

    Clay also sang another song for Disney this year on Phineas and Ferb. Did you see it??

    I am looking forward to seeing his show in San Francisco in March as he tours again.

    1. Thanks for commenting, Lily! I think I unintentionally omitted Clay’s current achievements to see if I could get any new responders. Yes, indeed he has remained in the public eye in Spamalot. I did catch his PBS special a few months ago with more standard fare (from his newest album Tried and True) which I think is his niche. I have a few nieces who watch Phineas and Ferb… unfortunately, I missed it. I’ll look for it on youtube

      Not really what I intended the post to be but it was a good diversion from the heaviness of the day. And I know Emily would have appreciated it 😀 Hope you keep reading!

  3. I am so glad to hear about the song – I did not know about it. Can’t wait to hear it from you!!!

    It seems that we get so close in musical circles – I think it might be the emotions that come natural from music. Emily was awesome and I feel priveleged to have known her in her student teaching days. Great last name!!!!

  4. Thanks Carol. Know a good orchestra who could get the music? That would be a sweet song to perform with orchestral accompaniment!

    I dunno if it is only musical circles but I like the thought of the emotions being derived from it. Curtis… and you were not related.

  5. Sounds like an interesting song. I guess you are a Clay Aiken fan? I’ve heard his name, but never intentionally listened to him before- he sounded pretty good. I seem to want to place him as a previous Idol winner, I guess from more than a couple years ago from what you wrote if he was?

  6. He was the season two runner up. I like his music, yes…. different than most of the popular music of today even if a lot of what he does is a throw-back to days gone by.

    Anyone who played Sir Robin in Spamalot can’t be all bad.

  7. I commented to Carla recently that Emily’s passing is still one that I have some trouble accepting; for purely selfish reasons, undoubtedly. It is hard to remember in this temporal world that life outside of this realm continues in ways beyond our comprehension. So as you do, I remember her well but also remind myself that she is alive more fully than any of us can possibly imagine.

  8. Well said, Doc! I’m sure she is somewhere in the thoughts and hearts of those who remember her so well! It will definitely be a long time before any of us totally accept that she has passed (selfish thoughts,, maybe) in the physical sense since it was so strong and surely is even stronger.

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