05/16/2026
Someday I will be “the mother of the groom.” Ever since my son was born, there’s a part of me that goes into every wedding seeing the day through that lens. Since I found out I was pregnant with a boy, and I have wondered out loud what song will be the one Franky and I dance to someday when he gets married.
We’ll find out eventually, but for now I like to imagine. He has become quite the music fan at the age of 3, and is usually belting out songs from his car seat everywhere we go. His latest love is the Cars soundtrack, specifically “Sh-Boom” by The Chords. If you aren’t a toddler mom and haven’t seen that movie in awhile, there’s a scene after Lightning McQueen fixes the road and all the neon lights on the businesses in Radiator Springs. At dusk, the neon lights shine, the sunset glows and the Cars characters go cruising. It’s during this scene that “Sh-Boom” plays.
“Life could be a dream (sh-boom),
If only all my precious plans would come true (sh-boom),
If you would let me spend my whole life lovin’ you,
Life could be a dream, sweetheart (do do do do, sh-boom)”
He dances and sings to this song with all the genuine, unfettered joy you can imagine. And now, every time dusk settles and he glimpses some pink or purple in the sky and all the lights start glowing outside, he beams “mama, it’s life could be a dream outside!”
If only he knew the real paradise is watching him sing and dance in the glow of dusk. If only he knew it’ll be this version of him I’ll be seeing when I dance with him on his wedding day.