If My Life was Made Into a Movie

There's a swap on Swap-Bot called If My Life Was Made Into a Movie. I thought it would be fun to imagine what a movie about my life would look like.

The Synopsis

Experiencing the Harvest Moon is a film about Ann's discoveries, new experiences, and moments of awe throughout her 55 year old life. She was born in Minneapolis and spent the first six weeks of her life on the shores of Mille Lacs Lake where her father was a director at a boys camp. These first days of her life foreshadowed one that would be connected to nature and working with children. 

After living in Minneapolis for seven years, her family moved to Bass Lake in Plymouth, Minnesota, and she enjoyed the outdoors with her sister and brother. After college and getting married, she moved back home and then to Charlotte (NC), San Francisco (CA), Minneapolis (MN), and finally to a ten-acre hobby farm in Scandia, Minnesota, where she has lived since 1995...26 of her 55 years. 

Life at the farm has been a series of learning experiences - running a Community Supported Agriculture farm; founding and operating a children's camp focused on the arts, nature, and agriculture; and taking care of a host of animals - dogs, cats, horses, sheep, chickens, turkeys, fish, and even a hedgehog. 

Hosting exchange students from Brazil and Japan laid the foundation for starting the adoption process. During 2001 and 2003, two daughters who were born in China were adopted and have been the highlight of Ann's life. 

The farm became another place of discovery for the girls, as homeschooling became a way of living and learning for the family. With one daughter now a junior in college and heading for Thailand for a semester of college and teaching children how to speak English; and another daughter a senior in high school doing three college courses each semester, 2021-22 will be a year of transition, challenges, and excitement for Ann and her family.

The Cast

Who would play you? I would want Meryl Streep to play me in the movie. In every movie she has been in, I have been impressed with her creative talent and versatility in playing diverse roles. I also read a book in August 2020 called The Good Among the Great by Donald Van de Mark. He pointed out many different qualities that great people tend to possess. One person who embodies all of the qualities is Meryl Streep. So, because she exemplifies a great person - someone who has qualities that I would like to have - I would want her to represent my life.  

What other actors and actresses would be in the movie, and what roles would they play? Paige would be played by Albert Brooks. He was in a movie with Meryl Streep called Defending Your Life. It's an excellent movie that focuses on fears and how they hold back people from completely enjoying and living one's life to the fullest. Albert is a very funny actor - both in words and actions - and he makes me laugh. He would be a good representative of Paige. 

For the girls, Sophia would be played by Ziyi Zhang who is a Chinese actress best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha. She has an impressive background in the arts and reminded me of Sophia and her talents in the arts as well (especially piano and harp).

Olivia would be played by Ming Na Wen. She is best known as the voice of Fa Mulan in the Mulan animated film series. She was also Melinda May in the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Since Olivia loves to do Tang Soo Do and she regularly watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ming Na Wen seems like a logical choice.

The Soundtrack (including links to YouTube)

What would be the main theme song? Make Me a Channel of Your Peace. I love this version of the song with a full orchestra and chorus singing it. The lyrics are: 

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there is hatred let me bring your love

Where there is injury, your pardon Lord

And where there is doubt true faith in You

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there is despair in life let me bring hope

Where there is darkness only light

And where there's sadness ever joy

Oh, Master grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood as to understand

To be loved as to love with all my soul

Make me a channel of your peace

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

It is in giving to all men that we receive

And in dying that we are born to eternal life

What song would be played as you started school as a child? I looked up popular songs in 1971 - when I would have been 5 years old. Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens was on the list. I do remember hearing that song. However, I heard more as a teenager when my dad would listen to WAYL - The Big Whale (easy listening music) - in his home office which was next to my bedroom. The lyrics are:

Morning has broken like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for them springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven

Like the first dewfall on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where His feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

Born of the one light, Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's recreation of the new day

What song would we hear when you fell in love for the first time? In college, I loved seeing The Wallets at nightclubs in the Twin Cities. I happened to come across a video of The Wallets at First Avenue. It was taped in 1987 - so either my Spring semester of my junior year or Fall semester of my senior year. Also found a live recording of a performance in Moorhead. There are a lot of songs on the almost two-hour recording. At the 1:10:46 mark is Body Talk and at 1:17:10 is Totally Nude which both were very popular. 

What song would be played when we're seeing how you handle a stressful situation? Under Pressure comes to mind immediately. I listened to the Queen/David Bowie Remix version SO many times as I drove to visit my parents as they were aging and their health was declining. I would play it very loud as I drove to the nursing home to see my dad.

I also would play it when I went to the geriatric psychiatric unit when he was placed there because of Alzheimer's Disease. It was a horrible place and he should not have been there. Thankfully, it was only for 11 days, but, nonetheless, it was not the place for someone with a cognitive decline (vs. someone with a mental illness - it's two completely different issues). He came out of there unable to feed himself because they had him so doped up on pills. So, yeah....Under Pressure is what immediately comes to mind.

What song would we hear when you're sad? Young@Heart Chorus singing Fix You. This song was sung in the movie that documents the true story of the final weeks of rehearsal for the Young@Heart Chorus in Northampton, MA. The chorus members average age was 81, and many of them had to overcome health adversities to participate. 

This song, Fix You, was sung by Fred after the death of his friend, Bob. This song was supposed to be a duet with Bob. He tributed the song to Bob and Bob's family was in the audience so there were lots of shots of his family reacting to the song. When I first heard this song, my father was in the middle- to late-stage of Alzheimer's Disease. It captured exactly how I felt at the time of wanting to fix my dad...to take away all the struggles he was experiencing due to Alzheimer's, but realizing I couldn't. 

The lyrics are:

When you try your best, but you don't succeed

When you get what you want but not what you need

When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep

Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face

When you lose something, you can't replace

When you love someone, but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below

When you're too in love to let it go

But if you never try, you'll never know

Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face

When you lose something, you cannot replace

Tears stream down your face and I

Tears stream down your face

I promise you, I will learn from my mistakes

Tears stream down your face and I

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

And finally, what song would we hear as the movie ends and the credits are rolling? Another song from Young@Heart Chorus and movie that I like - especially for the lyrics - is Forever Young. 

This version of the song was sung to prisoners at Hampshire County Jail, and is a very powerful and touching scene in the movie. The chorus learned that one of its members died that morning, and they went ahead with the performance. I'm sure the death of their beloved friend was on their mind. 

The main reason I like this song is that the message is one that I would want to impart to others, especially my daughters as they go through their lives.

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay
Forever young

Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
Forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true

May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you

May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
And may you stay
Forever young

Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
Forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift

May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay
Forever young

Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
Forever young