You Make Me Feel So Young- Frank Sinatra

*Listen to the song to get the full experience*

Frank Sinatra was an American singer and actor that quickly rose to fame due to his talented voice and performances. He is regarded as one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He recorded over 1,400 songs and appeared in over 60 films in his career. He is well known for songs like “Fly Me to the Moon” and “New York, New York”, but has had many other extremely successful songs. He may have died back in 1998, but his music and legacy still live on.

“The Way You Look Tonight” has so many core memories tied to it, all taking place in a very specific location: West Hampton Beach. I grew up spending my summers in the Hamptons with my whole extended family. This was such a great experience that I would give all my money to experience just one more time. The Hamptons houses that we stayed at were owned by my Great Uncle Donald (or to the kids just Uncle Donald), which our family unfortunately sold after his passing.

Those that have read or watched The Summer I Turned Pretty will have a good understanding of this parallel between my life and Belly’s. Growing up, I would entirely agree with the saying “For me, it was almost like winter didn’t count. Summer was what mattered. My whole life was measured in summers.” To Leah growing up, her years were measured in trips to the Hamptons where I celebrated every birthday up there with my family. This was such a great experience as naive Leah did not realize the class that existed up there, as I showed up to huge Hamptons parties in my clothes from Justice (stylish at that time but looking back I was certainly underdressed).

Alright, back to the song. A huge part of the excitement around getting to go up to the Hamptons was not only getting to be reunited with my whole extended family but my Uncle Donald was also known for his huge parties around the pool. These parties were such a huge part of my childhood, where all of my cousins and I had to act very grown up and on our best behavior. I have always been called “well-spoken” and “mature for my age” and I would attribute this mostly to these parties of having to interact with all of Donald’s friends and introduce myself as soon as I could speak for myself.

Uncle Donald knew how to throw a party. He would go the whole nine yards with live music, caterers, servers, and just an extravaganza for the few that were able to make the guest list. With this, before the crowds arrived for the night, just the cousins and Uncle Donald were allowed to have a dance party on the deck. I searched everywhere for pictures of this event as there are many, but I, unfortunately, could not find any. Uncle Donald was very picky with the music that was played, strictly Frank Sinatra. I chose You Make Me Feel So Young due to the nature of this song and the association with these dance parties before the adult party.

Since my sister and I were his favorites (he made it very clear), we were always given the opportunity to dance with Uncle Donald. I vividly remember ballroom dancing- or at least a four-year-old version of ballroom dancing- together before the rest of the party arrived. This was such a special moment that I would now do practically anything to relieve it.

It is crazy to look back on now since I did not understand the elegance and high class that surrounded me in the Hamptons and I wish I would have had a greater appreciation for it. This was such a special place and I hope to bring back this tradition in the future when I am successful enough to purchase a house up there. Until then, I can just sit in my college dorm and listen to Frank Sinatra all night long.