Blog 360 – 07.31.2016

(The following is an excerpt from the book I wrote about my daughter Emily Elaine White called The Little Girl Who Sang Her Song To Anyone Who Came Along.)

Episode 32

How’s that title for a little alliteration, Mrs. Sorrels? My English and Literature teacher back in the ninth grade would have labeled that excessive but, hey, if it survives the editor there you have it.

Some dear friends of ours gave us a precious gift when Emily was a little girl. They gave us a Bell and Howell 8 millimeter movie camera, projector, and screen. This was back before digital cameras came out or became affordable and was how families documented the lives of their children. Many a birthday or family vacation was recorded for posterity on 8 mm film. I have seen home movies of the Kennedy family and many other famous people.

I have some precious footage of Emily and her brothers that I hope someday a wider audience will be interested in seeing. There is a scene in the movie Prince of Tides, from the book by recently deceased author Pat Conroy, where the Nick Nolte character is showing the Barbra Steisand character some home movies of his sister as a child and they help Barbra who plays a psychiatrist to understand better her patient, his sister, Savanah.

These home movies are usually private family treasures but often when someone becomes famous any and all things about them become treasures to many outside their immediate family. As I have mentioned previously I believe we are all family. I am in these pages merely trying to acquaint Emily’s larger family with their beloved sister who left a discernible wake in her journey through space and time.

One of the most precious to me of those 8mm clips is of Emily at about two years of age at Easter pushing a little plastic shopping cart which was her Easter basket that year. She is wearing shorts and a matching top and sunglasses. Her Uncle Dahl at seeing the clip said, “Look at that girl. She already knows she is a star.”

Emily’s first Thanksgiving, I think it was, would have been a sad occasion for our little family except for dear Dahl. Sandra was quite sick and completely incapacitated and I was feeling over worked, under appreciated, and completely overwhelmed by the baby and two boys who were in need of a happy holiday as much as I was.

Unexpectedly Dahl showed up and after a quick trip to the grocery store that was miraculously open on Thanksgiving morning, he whipped together a fabulous feast that would have rivaled any of his mother Nancy’s famous feasts. And we didn’t have to wait till dark thirty to enjoy it. But that’s a story her family knows all too well and we tell it with love for our dear departed Nancy,. She was named Florene and was known as Flo by most of her family. I always think of Nancy when I hear the song Rocky Raccoon and the lines:

Her name was Magill
And she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy.

Nancy was a wonderful lady and truly glowed. Dahl really glowed that day for us and having seen that wonderful glimpse of the divine light inside him that day I am one who can never forget who he truly is. God came to apartment #38 that Thanksgiving Day many years ago now, made dinner for us and made us laugh. And that act of such kindness and love touched me so and now it is yours too. Thank you, Dahl. Thank you God. Man, when it seems the darkest you really shine the brightest.

The last time I watched those 8MM memories of Emily was several years before her passing. I had gotten them out, set up the projector and screen, and as they played, I video recorded the images hoping to make them easier to share with other interested parties someday. I still hope someday to do just that.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White