love

Peanuts was a beloved comic strip that ran in thousands of newspapers.  Americans processed many of the cultural changes of the 60's through Peanuts: "jogging", an obsession with "cool", psychotherapy, idealism, cynicism, and commercialization. At the same time, many of the themes explored by the Peanuts gang were timeless and deeply personal:  depression, unrequited love, identity, trust and belonging, for example. These are great subjects for starting and sustaining meaningful conversation. What did Peanuts mean to you then? What about now?

The Fantasticks is a musical comedy from 1960.  It's about two neighboring fathers who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud.

The first musical number of the show is "Try to Remember," a song about nostalgia.  In the song, the audience is invited to reminisce and reflect on their childhood and growing up. 

Jerry Orbach sang the song in the role of "El Gallo"

The Fantasticks is a musical comedy from 1960.  It's about two neighboring fathers who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud.

The show's original off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years (until 2002) and 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical.

It's typically staged with a very sparse set consisting of a table and ladders to represent the neighboring bedrooms.

On Golden Pond was an award winning film from 1981 starring Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn and Jane Fonda.  Norman, a retired professor, and his wife Ethel, summered on Golden Pond, a lake in New Hampshire.  In this scene, Ethel and Norman take the canoe out for a ride on the lake and see the loons.  A motor boat comes rather close to the loons and their canoe and both Norman and Ethel tell them to "buzz off."

On Golden Pond was an award winning film starring Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn and Jane Fonda.  In this scene, Norman goes strawberry picking, gets lost and comes home empty handed.  Ethel realizes that he's having cognitive problems. You can use this to talk about how Norman feels embarrassed, angry and disappointed in himself.  But you can also note how Ethel feels the loss but reassures him that he's still the same old crabby Norman and that she loves him. She uses humor and calls him her "knight in shining armor."

This story begins by framing what we mean by 'miracle.'  It reminds us that sometimes we refer to something extraordinary that causes wonder and astonishment. Miracles can be amazing, and even inexplicable by normal standards.  And yet, a miracle need not refer to a super-natural event;  in fact, miracles can be everyday occurrences with extraordinary meaning or significance.  Falling in love, for example, is not uncommon.  And yet, it can change our lives.

In the story of Tzeitel and Motel in The Fiddler on the Roof, it was a miracle they were able to be married at all.