The Memory of a Song

Sometimes in a faraway moment I hear a tune in the back of my mind, and I begin unconsciously to hum Da de da de da, la da de da de, da de da de da.
I never remembered what it was but I felt somehow it was a melody of my past. It seemed to be a song that reminded me of happiness and warmth 
It's nice to have a song in your life like that. It is sort of magic. It creates rainbows and balloons and memories of all that we loved as children.
Sometimes I wondered where the song was from. I'd ask my sister. We'd hum a few bars together, but neither of us knew where it was from. I guess it didn't matter. It wasn't a haunting melody, and we weren't going crazy, because we didn't remember. It was just something happy and nice that we shared from our childhood.
This morning I was walking on my treadmill (I try to do that almost every morning) and I popped in a DVD to help me pass the time. My sister has made me dozens if DVDs to encourage my walking. They are life savers, because walking alone is b-o-r-i-n-g.
As I passed lap six, suddenly I heard the overture of the next movie on the disc. I almost fell off the treadmill. There it was after all these years- my tune - da de da de dum. That was it. Clear as a bell. It actually wasn't da de da de dum, as I remembered it, but Doody Doody Doo.
I didn't remember the movie at all. I didn't remember a stitch about it, but I have known its title song my entire life. The movie was Tom Thumb with Russ Tamblyn, and it was the story of the fairy tale imp that was no bigger than a thumb.
Suddenly I recalled that on beautiful summer nights, my grandfather, o'h, would pile us little children (perhaps I was five) into the car and take us to a drive in. We'd be all set in our pajamas with bag of popcorn and apple slices, even chocolate. We'd put the receiver in the window of the car and then settle back to watch the movie.
I guess he took us to see Tom Thumb. It was a very unmemorable movie, but the song was a great tune then and it is still a catchy unforgettable one today.
I realize now that it is more than a melody. It is a deep-grained joyous part of my life. I would like to express my gratitude (and that of my sister) to Douglas Gamley - Composer (Music Score), Kenneth V. Jones - Composer (Music Score), Muir Mathieson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kermit Goell - Songwriter, Peggy Lee - Songwriter, Fred Spielman - Songwriter, Janice Torre - Songwriter - who have created a deep-seated memory that IY"H I hope will last my entire life.