A strange string of thoughts

Okay... so Amy woke up humming the tune to "Those were the days" which got me humming it.  Then I played it on YouTube and that made me think of songs by Doris Day.  So I played a little Doris Day.  In that list she sang a song with a co-star, Gordon MacRae.  It was a lovely song and his voice was really amazing.  I was surprised I had not remembered the actor.  So I looked him up on wikipedia.  His bio sums up with, "Gordon died in 1986 at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska." My home town!  It was just sorta weird.  So I looked up more and found a picture of his headstone in Wyuka Cemetery.  That particular graveyard is the largest I can recall in Lincoln.  Related to that search I found out that his widow died just a couple of week ago (also in Lincoln).

Strange how things work when we start chasing a string of thoughts.

Dominating my thoughts has been Doris Day.  On one side I know virtually all the roles she most fondly remembered for were so completely sexist and stereotyping.  Yet, how could you not dream of that perfect Hollywood world?  Movies have certainly changed.  But I still look back on those films (old even before I discovered them) as some of the best I've seen.  Doris, of course, is an amazing performer.  I do wonder sometimes who the greatest actors of our time will turn out to be.  I think folks will look back on Sandra Bullock in a similar way as Doris Day, but Sandra will never carry a tune the same way.  Hard to say what time will bring.

Doris Day is still knocking around after all these years.  Born in 1922, she'll be 88 this year.  I don't think I discovered her until the mid 80's so she would have been in her 60's already.  Ah the magic of movies... Doris will be stealing the hearts of young fans for at least a 100 years.

The real Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff lived a far from perfect life.  Her story is inspiring by itself.  It highlights many of the flaws remaining in American gender roles at the same time it tells of her ability to overcome.  I only hope I can be so resilient in my own life.  When Doris sings in my mind, I feel I can be.