'Flatch'back: Glimpses Into My Childhood

There's lots of times when a song, a movie, a smell or a taste can bring back vivid memories and it's nice to just relax and let the memories wash over you. When our childhood memories come flooding back, it gives us a reason to relive the days when nothing really mattered. There were no bills to pay, no papers to write, no jobs to be had. It was just living in the moment.

I recently had one of those flashbacks while watching HBO the other day. I just so happened to stumble upon the beginning of An American Tail. I hadn't seen the movie in about a year so I figured I'd sit through it again and watch it through my five-year-old eyes. Watching it again, the sadness and joy of Fievel Mousekewitz's journey to reunite with his parents simply brought tears to my eyes. Seeing him trudging through the streets and giving up hope by living in an orphanage, really was heartbreaking. Then to see his family calling out for him, but he not hearing them until his dad started shouting his name.

"Papa?" Fievel said with the hint of a Russian accent.

As they ran past each other then embraced through the waterfall, I couldn't help but start crying because it was just such a beautiful story. When I was little I remember watching that movie and loving it for whatever reason I did. Later on I got an electronic keyboard and some music to play and one of the songs just so happened to be the main track from An American Tail. I remember trying to learn to play that one first just because I loved the song. I remember my family singing "Somewhere Out There" to me when I was little because they knew I'd remember Fievel.

"Michael ... Fievel!" I remember my mom saying in the voice she only used for me when I was little.

Now "Somewhere Out There" has a different meaning for me now that I'm older and away from my family. I know my family would be singing this song with me if they remembered the words...Well at least I know my grandma does. I talked to her the day I watched An American Tail and I said, "Nana, guess what I'm watching right now?"

"What?" she asked.

"Fievel," I said.

"Ohhh, Fievel...." she said, her voice dreamily trailing off. I knew that name had taken her back in time too and at that moment I could feel the warmth of her smile over 350 miles away.


Somewhere Out There - An American Tail