Today is Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday. I’ve been looking forward to it all week, and I’m not quite sure why. Maybe it’s because his music seems to chronicle the details of my life.
“My Way” was one of my father’s favorite songs. I can still see him behind the wheel of his black 1974 coupe de ville, singing it as if it was his personal anthem. The stanza, “For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels.”, perfectly describes the way he lives his life.
Without a doubt, “My Kind of Town”, is my absolute favorite Sinatra song. For the twelve years that we called Chicago home, it was my theme song. My heart soars every time the skyline comes into view during the initial approach into Ohara airport. And sappy as it sounds, I begin to sing:
This is my kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of people too
People who smile at you
And each time I roam, Chicago is
Calling me home, Chicago is
Why I just grin like a clown
It’s my kind of town.
And when we moved to Atlanta the words, “And each time I leave, Chicago is. Tuggin’ my sleeve,” would bring tears to my eyes.
“The way you look tonight” reminds my of my husband. He went through a serious Sinatra stage about fifteen years ago. It was the only music he would listen to. One night when he came home from work, he pulled me away from cooking made me dance with him to that song. The memory of him whispering, “And that laugh wrinkles your nose. It touches my foolish heart” still makes me smile.
There are so many more Sinatra moments that I could write about, but I’ve got to get ready for tonight’s Holiday party.
HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY, FRANK! I’ve got your under my skin.