Sentimentale; a Mama's Journey; Joolen

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All materials on this site are protected; Copyright © 2025 by the author, Bernadette Joolen; All Rights Reserved. Which includes all text; design; and photographs. Greetings; and thank you!❤🌹

Updated 19 January 2026.❤🌹

HERE ARE THREE fun homemade videos i crafted; from bits and pieces of other things.-Fotos; music; and bits of other videos. Which was a new thing for me! But we had gotten a free sample of Adobe Premiere; with our first fotoshop; which my boy needed for school; and so; i was completely up for that! And what a fun trick to learn! Though it did take a bit of mucking around; it did take a bit of time for me. But worth every minute; i thought. It was a whole new
art form for me!❤🌹

THE FIRST is a video of my older brother Frank; above. Who has; several years ago; passed away. Which also includes me and my boy; when we went; by train; to visit him in LA. 

I also used; as background; the deeply touching music of my boy's jazz quartet; in which he played the saxophone.

We had a fun recording session by our piano at home. The song is Midnight Blue.-Most notably sung by Melissa Manchester. And they were; and surely still are!-Such dear fun talented boys. It was just play; though quite in earnest! With this dear impulsive project.❤🌹 

THIS LOVELY lazy delicious song; reminded me of the sweet nostalgic rhythms of LA.-It was so hot there! We always just kind of shuffled along.-I still love this piece. I think these sweet; perhaps clumsy homemade projects; are still a lovely way to share and treasure sweet memories. And i really adore the gorgeous gentle way those boys played that song. Children making music is the best thing.-Don't you think? 

It is absolutely 

the sweetest thing.❤🌹

THE SECOND VIDEO; Scenes from an Immigrant Childhood; i crafted from the small videos my mother made; with her Super 8 camera; that she got with her Blue Chip Stamps. They are crazy; random; delicious! 

I love the one of Opa digging in our yard.-A proud man on his rented property. And he became quite an avid gardener that way! Because of course; with all of that sunshine in LA; what else would you do?! I also love his fun silly dancing scene at the end; with the relatives in Holland. 

He was a shy modest man who worked hard; lived quietly; and truly loved all the beautiful things he did. And then; passed them on to all of us. And; furthermore; musically speaking; that is me on the alto recorder; playing Penny Lane.-By the amazing Beatles; of course. 

And then; Chopsticks; on the piano! (I arranged both of those pieces myself.) A fun way to snap up my chops a bit! And i am so glad; that i took the time to make these sweet small videos. Because of course; the sad note being; that time moves on; of course; and so.-Rest in peace; Oma and Opa and Brother Frank. I think we had good times; when we did.❤🌹

OTHER BRIEF fun notes. It is also me on the cello. And i love the bit with Oma petting the goat!-We were at the Griffith Park Zoo in LA; which was maybe three busses away. And that part was always fun too. We got to see the world that way! We got to see the city that way. And to think deeply about a lot of things; that maybe we wouldn't have otherwise. I always loved that. Many trips to the sea that way too.❤🌹

AND THE THIRD VIDEO was a delicious playful piece that i conceived while i was deep into my writing; and taking a fun delicious acting class. And we were always tasked to bring small notions in to play with; and so; i kept doing that! 

The table; as you will see; was my stage. We had just gone to the Cirque du Soleil; oh my! I was higher than a kite! And; i was just learning to play the accordion. Which was a life-changer for me.

I had for so long longed to have a personal handheld folk instrument; more personal than a piano; to sing with.-I was getting into everything! Inspired by the journey of my boy; and his fun ever-changing and interesting world. 

The piece i was playing on this video; was my own arrangement; of a gorgeous song by Peter Ostroushko; the American mandolinist and singer of Ukrainian descent.

His voice was deep and rich; and the language is so beautiful. And the song was so tender it nearly killed me! And so then; you have to sing it or play it yourself; of course; don't you? 

The foreign words were too difficult for me to transcribe and learn; and so; i worked out this instrumental version instead. But a lot of music came in and out of our house those years.-Still does. And so; you couldn't help but not create something yourself! And; as you can see; i went absolutely mad with special effects in this fun fun video.-With that new Adobe Premiere software. And clearly; i was highly suggestible! All in day; and in a time; that was ever sweet and delicious for me. As was the incredible journey of that boy.❤🌹

AND POSTSCRIPT; dear Google; why don't you show my beautiful posts on this site?-Have they somehow disappeared me? And have they forgotten; that we writers were some of the earliest humans who warmed their giant new electronic bits-and-bytes worldscape.-With our dreams; and with our music; and with our passionate politics; insights; and humanity.-And all for no pay; mind you. And we deserve to be seen for that!-Ja; no; i know. From this old Dutch immigrant mama; Bernadette Joolen! Don't forget that.❤🌹

Here is Bernadette on Youtube!

Bernadette Joolen; Beautiful Dreamer

https://www.youtube.com/@bernadettejoolen

Copyright and Permissions.
All materials on this site are protected; Copyright © 2025 by the author, Bernadette Joolen; All Rights Reserved. Which includes all text; design; and photographs.

THE AUTHOR can be reached
at contactbjoolen@gmail.com.

❤🌹