I Never Expected My FAN Club To Begin With A Car Ride And A Convent Scene
I Felt the Magic of Friends, Associates, and Neighbors in a Crowded Auditorium
This week I’m attempting something new — a story where you can read, watch, or just listen. Does it work? I’m uncertain. Let’s try it and see!
The audio version is at the top of this post. Here’s the video version. And the written version is below.
Let’s Start at the Very Beginning
Starting fresh with family stories for 2025 feels kind of like flipping through radio stations on a road trip: you stop on something random, and suddenly, there it is—a memory worth exploring. For me, it starts with a story I can't shake—a crisp, cold winter night in Portland when a red Rambler, a convent, and Julie Andrews all came together in a way that taught me something about connection.
We’re piling into the red Rambler, all five of us.
To 8-year-old me, it’s the coolest car in the world. My favorite spot is in the way back, but tonight I’m stuck in a seat. “You’re in your nice clothes,” Mom reminds me. Then she looks at Dad. “Turn left."
Dad nods, and we pull out of the driveway, up 172nd, towards Foster Road.
Mom’s the navigator, and Dad’s the driver. That’s how it’s always been. Mom never learned, and Grandpa doesn’t drive anymore, not since he stopped remembering how to get home from the grocery store.
It’s my favorite kind of winter weather: crisp, cold, and clear. The sky feels clean and sharp, the way it does sometimes in Portland when the mud puddles freeze over. We’re all dressed up—itchy tights for me, a suit jacket for Dad, and my little brother in his best shoes, the ones he usually wears to church.
A Special Night
This is no ordinary Saturday night. We’re not going to the school gym, where they usually hold the lyceum programs for our church.
This time, they rented the big auditorium at Benson High School. It feels fancy, with its rows of fixed seats, and each row is higher than the one in front. It’s nothing like those folding chairs at the high school gym.
Even the lighting feels different here: softer, yet brighter, all at the same time.
Families from church are pouring in, all smiles and whispers. I can feel the hum of excitement. It’s like camp meeting, but indoors and in the middle of winter.
The lights dim, and the room falls silent.
The screen comes to life with a shot of mountains so big they seem to spill out into the auditorium. Then Julie Andrews appears, spinning and singing, and I’m completely drawn in by the soaring music, the beautiful clothes, the funny moments that make everyone laugh. Even my little brother is watching quietly.
He never sits still!
That Shared Moment
The part that I like the best comes near the end, when the nuns at the convent stop the soldiers from chasing after the Von Trapp family. One nun pulls out a car part and says, “Mother, forgive us. We have sinned.”
The whole auditorium bursts into laughter, and it feels like we’re all a part of the same giant thing, bigger than just me. Even Grandpa chuckles.
I lean over to whisper to Mom. “Why did Rolfe get so mean?”
She whispers back, “I’ll explain later.”
I mean, Rolfe was so nice when he was 17 going on 18, but here at the end he isn't even singing! I don’t understand it all, but I don’t need to. The music, the story, and the feeling of being in this room with all these people is enough.
By the time the movie ends, I’m completely exhausted. My tights itch more than ever, and my feet ache in the patent leather shoes, but I don’t care. I feel full of music, of laughter, of something I can’t quite name. We shuffle out of the auditorium with the rest of the crowd, and everyone is talking about the songs, the Von Trapp family, and that funny scene with the nuns.
It’s like we all stepped out of the same big dream together.
The ride home is quiet. I lean against the door, too tired to stay upright. The hum of the car lulls me halfway to sleep. My little brother is already out, his head on Mom’s shoulder. The car feels warm and safe, even though the night outside is sharp and cold.
The Songs That Stick in Your Ears
I don’t remember falling asleep that night, but I woke up still tired, with songs from the movie still playing in my head.
That next week, we drove the bus driver crazy, singing “Do, a deer” over and over again, from 172nd, up over Scouter’s Mountain, and all the way through Happy Valley. Finally, he would holler, “No. More. Singing!”
We would keep humming anyway. We couldn't help ourselves! It was like a communal earworm. You know those songs that seem to get stuck in your ears?
Nearly 60 years later, I think about that night and how it was a beginning for me. Maybe it started when the nuns held up the car parts. The laughter spread through the auditorium, a contagious rumble that connected us all.
Your FAN Club
I was still just a kid, completely tied to my family, but that night I began to recognize my FAN club —my Friends, Associates, and Neighbors—and to note how significant our shared experiences could be.
I think when it comes to family stories and beginnings, the very best place to start is with yourself, and with your fan club. From there, the stories expand. They connect to your parents, and their fan clubs, and stretch back to grandparents, great-grandparents, and eventually to that inevitable brick wall where the paper trail ends.
If you want to try writing some of your own family stories, there’s a fantastic challenge called _52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Just search for it online, and you’ll find prompts and an entire community of people all tackling the same thing. Kind of like that night in the auditorium—when the laughter rippled out and brought us all together—it’s a chance to connect with others while piecing together your own story. But, you know, without the itchy tights or achy shoes.
For further reading:
Friends, Associates and Neighbors – International Institute of Genealogical Studies - https://blog.genealogicalstudies.com/2019/02/friends-associates-and-neighbors/
Back to School: A Historic Overview of Benson Polytechnic HS | Peter Meijer Architect, PC - https://pmapdx.com/blog-pmafindings/2397/back-to-school-a-historic-overview-of-benson-polytechnic-hs
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Amy Johnson Crow - https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/
The Sound of Music (1965) - IMDb - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059742/
Rambler (automobile) - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambler_(automobile)
What a great post. I was right there with you, and then you bring in fan club. Loved it!!