Anyone who truly knows me knows that I love Doris Day. It may seem strange for a forty-four year old man to love Doris Day, but golly I do. She just makes me smile when I think of her, and when I listen to her sing I am transformed to a simpler time and I feel peace. When I watch her movies, I have the same peaceful feeling. So what better place than a blog entitled Peace Matters to celebrate a lady who has brought me so much peace?

I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone to know that the person who first introduced me to Doris Day was my grandma. It seems she was always, unknowingly at times, leading me to people and things that would bring so much joy and peace to my life. I remember the day so well. I was sitting in my grandma’s living room talking to her and out of the blue she said, “I love Doris Day! I love listening to her sing.” Well, that is all it took for me. If my grandma loved Doris Day, I had to know more about her. I started researching Doris Day and soon realized why my grandma loved her so much. Doris Day truly brought light to everything she touched. She lit up the movie screen with her wide smile and golden hair. She could make me laugh and then in the next moment make me cry. She could sing so beautifully and effortlessly, and it truly has become impossible for me to think of Doris Day and not smile.

Like all of us, Doris Day has had struggles to endure on this earth. It is easy for people on the outside to think that someone like Doris Day has it all and that she lives a perfect life. However, we all know that that is not true for any of us. God knows that this life is hard and He knows that we will face valleys in life, but He knows that those valleys will make us better people who will bring a change into the world that will touch so many other people’s lives. Doris Day endured the struggle of having her dancing career halted by a terrible accident. She endured financial difficulties, and she lost her only son to cancer. I cannot image how all of those struggles and the struggles that no one knows about affected Doris Day, but she continued to move forward. She continued to forge a new path, and in the process she touched the lives of millions of people.

When I think of Doris Day, I cannot help but think of the color yellow. I read once that yellow was her favorite color. I am not sure if it is or not, but I continually find myself being drawn to the color yellow. Yellow is the color of my favorite flower, the sunflower, yellow is the color of the sun, and yellow is the color of the streets that run through heaven. Yellow is even the color of a famous brick road that leads to Oz in one of my favorite movies. And when Jeff and I got married, yellow was one of our colors. Some would say this is all coincidence, but I would disagree. It seems to me that many things that bring me joy and peace are associated with the color yellow, and Doris Day is no exception.

So, to celebrate Doris Day and to bring some light and that much needed color into all of our lives, I have decided to share some of my favorite Doris Day songs and movie clips with all of you. I hope that in some small way these clips will brighten your day and take you back to a simpler easy time when Doris Day graced the silver screen and her recordings played on record players across the country. As many of you may know, it has been a dream of mine to meet Doris Day. I know it seems like an impossible dream, but if life has taught me anything it has taught me that miracles happen every single day and that nothing is impossible. I would like to thank Doris Day for all the joy and peace she has brought to my life and to the lives of millions of others, including my grandma’s.

Maybe Doris Day will read this post and it will remind her that she has made a difference in the world. She has been a powerful, positive force in what often seems like a dark and sad world. She has made a difference in the lives of others, and of course we cannot forget the animals that she has helped along the way. She and her foundation have made it a mission to save and rescue millions of animals, and that makes me love her even more. The thing that all of us need to remember is that we can all have a positive effect on the world. The colors of all of our lives are shaded with dark times, but in the end the light will always shine through and peace will fill all of our lives if we only let it, and PEACE MATTERS!

~Dan~