Profile
Photos
Comments
Those two words inspire a host of emotions for me. They transport me to many different times in my life.
Back in the 70's, I absolutely loved ABBA. Their music was unique and quirky. The lyrics hit home with me.
My Dad was a woman's softball coach back then, and we would always go to the bar that sponsored the team after games on Sunday afternoons. Even now, I can still smell the oil from the deep fryer. We would order big red plastic baskets of french fries, onion rings and fried mushrooms to share amongst the team and their families. The bar was small and dark. It always took awhile for your eyes to adjust after coming in from the sun. They had black formica tables and red textured acrylic tumblers. A pinball machine stood in one corner and a jukebox in the other. I can remember driving my Dad crazy playing ABBA songs over and over again on the jukebox with the quarters I would beg from him.
I've been listening to ABBA for as long as I can remember.
Recently, I wrote an article titled "The Winner Takes It All", explaining the significance of that song in 2003 when I spent the summer battling in court with my ex-husband. On the days I had to go in front of the judge, my Mom would come to my house to watch my kids if they were with me or to go to court with me. We would play "The Winner Takes It All" each and every time I had to go to the courthouse. Mom would hold me tight and whisper in my ear, "I'm giving you all my strength. You can do this." She'd hold my hand with love and reassurance and tell me "The Winner Takes It All." It probably sounds kind of hokey now, but I would have curled up in a ball had it not been for my Mom, my husband and that song.
In the summer of 2005, a group of my friends, my parents, my husband and I, all met out in Vegas for vacation. My Mom surprised me with tickets to "Mamma Mia" playing at the Mandalay Bay. Just her and I went to see the show. It was fabulous. Every once in awhile, my Mom would hold my hand and squeeze it tight. When "The Winner Takes It All" started, she turned to me with a knowing look in her eyes and I began to tear up. It was so emotional. She would glance at me from time to time and say, "Isn't this fun?" And it was. We left the show arm and arm, in the night of the Vegas crowd, making our way down the strip to our hotel.
"ABBA Gold-Greatest Hits" sits in my car. It is one of the CD's that my kids and I listen to on the way home from school. They know all the words to the songs. They know what "The Winner Takes It All" means to me and to them. Dancing Queen is one of our favorites to sing along too.
Now that they've made "Mamma Mia" into a movie, I can't wait to see it with my Mom and my daughters. I'm sure we'll find fresh emotions to whip up and new memories to make.
