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Posts Tagged ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’

My Lunch with Richard Dreyfuss

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , , on May 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

“I’m Richard Dreyfuss. I don’t need this! I was in Jaws!” We love him. Jaws is one of, if not, younger son’s favorite movies. I love too many of his movies to list. But I will comment on how much I love Jaws The Goodbye Girl, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and I love him in Postcards From The Edge. And The American President. And Moon Over Parador. Of course, Down and Out in Beverly Hills. See? Love so many. Once Around. And What About Bob?

Although…that movie did/does contribute to the misconceptions of Tourette’s Syndrome…so one point deducted.

Obviously we also love him in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and he was kind enough to sign my lunch box what’s with the quote, “This means something”. He said that was one of the most important lines in the movie and, while he may have been blowing smoke up my ass, I think he probably was being truthful. He says the line twice in the movie and then another person says it a third time.

Mr. Dreyfuss was quite kind talking with my sons for several minutes about their names about presidents and treasurers. He really likes Civics and the history of our country and I think that’s pretty cool. He had a good appreciation for my sons’ names although they aren’t named after presidents or treasurers.

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Mr. Holland Moments of Balance

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , on May 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m approaching five years of full time “out of the house” work.  It took a long time for me to find the balance, but I think it was about a year ago I started to find my way in feeling like I was managing home and work pretty well.  This past month I think I have been hitting my stride.  Now I don’t want to jinx myself-yes, I am stuperstitious.  I have a lot of superstitions I follow.  Recently I’ve been enjoying the one for dancers and saying merde a lot.

The spring season brings the end of a semester and the dear tutors and students have been creating many Mr. Holland moments-a simple “thank you”, a “I get it so much more than I did before”, a “can I meet with you during the summer too?”-simple words that fill my heart with joy.  A lovely and thoughtful letter of thanks.  Anticipation of events being planned for next fall.  Happy recollections of the past few years that built up to this-graduation for many.

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(Seniors “walking the plank”.)

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Sprinkled into the Mr. Holland moments are memory making moments with my sons.  Spring concerts-oh, yes…more cow bells!  Last night older son had his first band concert and he played snare drum, bass drum, and cow bell.  Younger son had his choral concert tonight-he did great and they sang Octopus’s Garden!  Several of the songs were performed with the music teacher playing acoustic guitar-my favorite.  Tomorrow night is older son’s choral concert.  The art show was this week at school as well.  Field trips, baseball games, brain teaser games at home, and family dinners.

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The grass needs to be mowed, three loads of laundry need to be put away, and piles of stuff need to be sorted, but who cares?  Happiness has been filling my heart.   Balance is flowing in.

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My Own Mr. Holland’s Opus

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , , on July 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I am fortunate to have actual Mr. Holland moments through my work and my pirates always make me proud.  I do enjoy watching their growth and discoveries.  If I have even the tiniest bit to do with their successes, it makes me smile, a smile that goes all the way through my soul.

Still I came to realize that my opus needed to be told that they are my opus.  I sat down with each of my sons and told them that they are my opus.  They are the greatest part of my life.  I explained to them, explicitly, that my priorities go as follows:

My relationship with God.

My relationship with my hubby.

My relationship with my sons.

…my family.

…my friends.

…my job.

…my hobbies.

Granted, my job may read this (not my immediate boss, but the concept of employer) and think, why her priorities are not in the right order.

But they are.  If my relationship is not right with God, if I don’t maintain that one, I’m of little to no use to anyone else.   Particularly, I’m of little to no use to my hubby or sons.  Hubby and I have a type of short hand that we can use with each other, but we also know how important it is to nurture our relationship.  And even if all we get is 15 minutes to hold a conversation, because we share a brain, we are able to cover a lot of ground.  This was a banner month-two date nights in one month!

But I remembered that my sons are still young.  They won’t be for long, but at this moment I remembered, or realized, I needed to be EXPLICIT with them.  There are two lullabies I sing to them.  One I made up and the other is “Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon.  Mr. Holland (played beautifully by Richard “I did Jaws, I don’t need this” Dreyfuss)  sang this song to his son in the movie.  So I related the idea of the the boys’ importance in my life to the movie.  I told them they are my opus, the most wonderful piece of my life, my efforts,  my dreams and hopes.

While I am not perfect and never will be, I told them that everything I do and say and show to them is to help them when I’m not with them.  To help them make good choices and to know they are loved.  I said if we were independently wealthy, I would be at home waiting for them when they got home from school.  I also pointed out how lucky they are to come to their father.  Not a lot of boys get to spend so much time with their dads.

I love the subtle shifts I’ve seen in my sons.  They are talking more, sharing more about their fears, worries, hopes, and dreams.  They are slowing down their pace and taking the moments to explore what they are feeling.  Then they are trying to express it with more clarity.  I know this change  isn’t simply due to me telling them they are my opus.  This is because they are my opus and hubby and I have been working on this opus since the day we found out we were having babies.  It is so neat to see it starting to click for our sons.  It is so cool to watch them as they grow and develop, gain new confidences, and try new adventures.

My opus will not bring me fame and fortune, just as Mr. Holland’s didn’t bring those things to him.  But it’s not the fame and fortune.  It’s the moments.  It’s hearing “I love you , Mom.”  It’s the hugs.  The kisses.  The cuddles.  The wee bits of embarrassments that are starting to rear their ugly heads.  My opus is filled with cacophonous sounds and they are a beautiful noise.                                                                                                          

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