A Plate Of Homemade Wishes...

"Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life"...Christiane Northrup

When I was a kid growing up in the seventies, I secretly wanted to be a Bradford (so did all my friends!), if you don't know who the Bradford family are, then you probably missed my all-time favourite tv show (at least from when I was 11-14 years old), Eight is Enough.  Well here's the whole Bradford clan, bursting happily and joyfully out of their home (I wanted to live in their house, too!!)

Eight is Enough was known as a "dramedy" (comedy-drama), as it attempted to story-tell realistic family problems and often dealt with more serious and mature themes than other family shows of this television era.  But through all the drama, the warmth and humour spilled through each week, and most every show left me with either a happy tear or a big smile.

In one of the most poignant episodes that I recall, the oldest brother David was trying to separate himself from his family.  He was tired of always being the one the family leaned on for help (being the oldest), he no longer wanted to be part of solving every family crisis, he wanted his independence and was not going to allow his sister to guilt him into postponing his weekend ski trip to sing at a benefit she was organizing, just because the "whole family" was helping her.  However, he had a change of heart when he overheard his kid brother's conversation with an orphan boy, describing what a great family he had, "especially his brother, David", and all the orphan boy could say was how he "wished he had a brother".  This boy did not have any brothers, sisters or parents.  I guess David was forgetting how lucky he really was...and so he surprised his family by not only showing up to perform, but he treated them all to a special song he wrote for and dedicated to them.

The start of this video is in spanish.  What he says is "this song is written for my family.  When you belong to a large family, sometimes you forget you are a member...and well.. this is my way of saying "thank you" to them for not forgetting about me.

Lyrics:  There's a magic in the early morning we've found.  When the sunrise smiles on everything around.  It's a portrait of the happiness that we feel and always will.  And eight is enough to fill our lives with love.  Oh we're lucky we can share this beautiful space.  So many find the world an empty place.  Anyone who asks to stand alone, is only standing still.  And eight is enough to fill our lives with love.  Oh love makes all the difference now, and one that really shows.  Just look at everyone of us.  See how it overflows.  We spend our days like bright and shiny new dimes.  If we're ever puzzled by the changing times.  There's a plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen window sill.  And eight is enough to fill our lives with love.  More than enough to fill our lives with love.

To this day, I'm not quite sure what it means to spend a day like "bright and shiny new dimes", but the "plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen window sill" sounded....delicious!!

I guess I'm not the only one who loved that song, because after this aired, they replaced their opening theme with this tune:



Times sure have changed!  Today, big families like this are virtually non-existant, homes come in small lot sizes, and nobody has the same job their entire career.  But one part of life remains as true today as it was 35 years ago: no matter the family size, place, or other details, it's the people in our lives bringing us true happiness, it's those people who are "more than enough to fill our lives with love!"

Ahhh sweet and cheesy, I know.  Well, what do you expect from someone who really loves that theme song?  Come on, admit it, you like it too, right?

Cheers,

Linda