There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna want to make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb…
“I haven’t heard this song in years”, my 16 year-old daughter said as she turned up the Miley Cyrus song on the car radio.
“I haven’t either. When you and your sister were little, I loved this song”, I said wistfully.
“So did we”, she responded as we listened to Miley. She then added, “Disney Channel just isn’t what it used to be”.
Was my daughter getting nostalgic?
I thought for a moment and said, “Oh, you just say that because you’ve become too old for it. I’m sure that younger kids love what is on Disney Channel now. It just isn’t yours anymore”.
Her answer to that was, “I don’t agree Mom. Think about the shows that we used to watch. They were the best. I am sure that anyone my age would say the same thing”.
For the rest of the ride we reminisced about Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, That’s So Raven, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Lizzie McGuire. We spoke about the movies: Camp Rock, The Cheetah Girls, Halloweentown, Cow Belles, and, of course, the iconic High School Musical.
We discussed how successful some of these child stars have become: Miley Cyrus, Raven Simone, Vanessa Hudgens, Hillary Duff, Selena Gomez, Zach Efron – just to name a few.
I felt myself starting to get sentimental about these shows.
Plopping myself down on the couch with my girls to catch a good episode of Hannah Montana was great . I remember getting so excited for them while they were getting ready to watch High School Musical 2, after the original had become such an obsession.
I hadn’t realized that I missed all of that.
Although I didn’t know it then, life was simpler, especially for my family.
Sadly, my husband passed away just as our girls were coming out of that “Disney Channel Phase”. Their innocence was suddenly lost. Those magic years of sitting in front of The Suite Life of Zach and Cody (that was their Dad’s favorite) had disappeared. Before I knew it, they were in high school and getting ready to go off to college.
After that ride in the car, The Climb was stuck in my head. I thought about the words:
The struggles I’m facing
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No, I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that I’m gonna remember most, yeah
Just got to keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on, ’cause…
There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna want to make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb
It’s the climb. There are many moments which make up the road that gets us through life. Some are difficult, such as getting through a tragic loss. Some are as simple as staying up late to watch Camp Rock.
Those words are pretty powerful. Miley Cyrus was a pretty smart girl at such a young age.
There will always be a part of me that misses those Disney Channel years with my daughters. Tonight, I just might cuddle with my girls and watch The Hannah Montana Movie.
Stacey Feintuch is a freelance writer who lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and two boys. And she’s Stacey with an E opposed to this site’s co-founder, Stacy.
