My mother's favorite song of all time was "Begin the Beguine" and her favorite singer of all time was Tom Jones. In searching around one day, I was amazed to discover that Tom did a rendition of "Begin the Beguine" (and it's really good!). So I burned it to a CD with other of his greatest hits to play for her.
The next time I was driving Mom around on errands, I told her I had a surprise for her and hit "play" on the CD I'd created. She couldn't believe it! And when the song gets to the point around 1:56 where Tom really starts to belt it out, Mom gave such a exultant whoop of pure joy that it is one of my very favorite memories of her.
Anyway. It would have been Mom's birthday today. She died 6 years ago, but started fading into dementia about 10 years ago. I played this song for her 'til the very end.
Tom Jones sings Begin the Beguine, YouTube link.
