Family Viewing

We took advantage of the "Live" performance of the Sound of Music remake starring the lovely and talented Carrie Underwood, by watching it together as a family. It reminded me a lot of when I was a kid and there was no VCR, DVD, Netflix and Computer Streaming. You only had the opportunity to see The Sound of Music or The Wizard of Oz once per year. If you missed it, you had to wait until the following year to see it.

I had read a review that said this remake, as the original had, portrayed the Catholic Church in a very positive light. After watching it, I would totally agree. It spoke about the idea of Vocation as something that God gives to each one of us as the best way to serve him and to bring his love into the world. Maria ( Carrie Underwood) finds that she is not called to the convent at all, but instead, to Mother the captain's seven children, to be a good wife to him and to bring joy and music back into their hurting family. They are surely protected by Divine Providence as they escape in the night out of  Austria in the hands of the Nazis with the help of the Sisters that she knows so well.

 Incidentally, The Sound of Music is based on a very true story and the book about "The Trapp Family Singers" ( something like that) is excellent. This family lived their Catholicism completely. Maria and the captain were blessed with more children to add to their brood and they all worked very hard to help the family. After touring the United States performing to earn their bread, they settled in Stowe, Vermont and bought hundreds of acres. The ski lodge has a fancy restaurant where we once had dinner with my parents, Grandma F. and my cousin, Geraldine.That evening, we met  the very senior Maria von Trapp, perhaps an octogenarian by this time, as she walked around the dining room, introducing herself to each table. As a teen, we cross country skied at this resort with our neighbors and friends. The scenery was so beautiful! Larry and I have visited this rebuilt lodge ( a fire destroyed the original) when we went to Vermont a number of years ago.
Although, I think that only a small portion of this movie was actually filmed "Live", it was delightful to watch such an inspiring and heart-warming program with the kids as a special event.