"Flying high upon the wings of love ..."
We see my brothers and sisters almost every Sunday, when we gather at my parents' house for Sunday dinner. On such occasions, any time my sisters announce they're going to the grocery store, my daughters clamor to go with them. It's partly, maybe even mostly, that they adore their aunties, and it's partly that they're hoping to get something out of the deal. This past Sunday, my sisters took the girls to the grocery store, and, when they returned, the girls raced each other to the doorstep, faces bright with the pleasure of acquisition. My older daughter had scored a Barbie doll named "Theresa," who was destined to become fast friends with "Tracy" and "Dr. Lou Shannon." It was my youngest daughter, the four year old, however, who had the piece de resistance, a plush unicorn toy with feathery, light-up wings that flutters its wings and plays Jeffrey Osborne's "On the Wings of Love" when you press its left hoof. You read that correctly. It plays Jeffrey Osborne's "On the Wings of Love" -- at a fairly decent decibel level, I might add. Since a parents' least favorite kind of toy is a toy that makes noise, my first impulse was to cast around for someone to blame. But when I saw how tightly my daughter hugged the darn thing, and how delighted she was with it, I couldn't complain.
Since then, my daughter has insisted that the unicorn, which she has named Odette, accompany us on every car ride. I have heard enough of "On the Wings of Love" to last a lifetime. But a funny thing happened on the way to insanity. The song has been transformed for me. Every time I hear it from now on, I'm bound to think of the way her face lights up when the wings light up, the way she copies Osborne's phrasing in the line, "... the only way to fly--eye-eye-eye," the way she rushes -- frantically and almost solemnly, as if it's a matter of great urgency -- to present Odette to friends and visitors.
So here's to you, Jeffrey Osborne. You keep on singing, and I'll keep on flying high upon the wings of love.
Since then, my daughter has insisted that the unicorn, which she has named Odette, accompany us on every car ride. I have heard enough of "On the Wings of Love" to last a lifetime. But a funny thing happened on the way to insanity. The song has been transformed for me. Every time I hear it from now on, I'm bound to think of the way her face lights up when the wings light up, the way she copies Osborne's phrasing in the line, "... the only way to fly--eye-eye-eye," the way she rushes -- frantically and almost solemnly, as if it's a matter of great urgency -- to present Odette to friends and visitors.
So here's to you, Jeffrey Osborne. You keep on singing, and I'll keep on flying high upon the wings of love.
posted by Kate Marie | 8:04 PM | Permalink
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6 comments
6 Comments:
"Dr. Lou Shannon"?
That unicorn-pegasus hybrid sounds like it flew right off the cover of a circa-1986 Trapper Keeper. Where on earth did your sister find such a thing?
What's the deal? Were they out of Bratz?
LOL, Jeff. I was wondering whether anyone would wonder about Dr. Lou Shannon. That's just a name one of them came up with for the veterinarian Barbie.
Dang. I wish I'd discovered the existence of stuffed winged unicorns that sing Jeffrey Osborne songs sooner. Our office Christmas party is in a couple of days, and that would have been an awesome entry in the annual gift-swap.
Oh well--guess I'll have to go with a canned ham instead. :)
I know this is super old but this is the wierdest coincidence ever so i just had to write about it. Back in 2005 i was 4 years old as well and had the same unicorn! It would always sing that song and i was obsessed with it. And my older sisters name is Odette. I had to throw it out a couple years later though because it was so worn out and the song wouldnt play anymore. ):
looking for that unicorn. Does anyone have one or know where I can get it?
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