The dub of this film that I grew up with, the one with the most wonderfully cheesy original songs that I would zoom around on a tiny broomstick singing, was discontinued years ago. My VHS player died last Christmas so I thought I would never get to see my version of this movie again. But today my parents surprised me with the cutest, jankiest little VHS player and a box of all my favorite VHS’s, with Kiki’s Delivery Service right on top. We weren’t able to be home for the holidays this year, so we all sat around this tiny little tv box in our hotel room and rewatched this, my favorite childhood film.

I’m getting ready to graduate in 6 months, and I’m going to have to leave so much of my childhood behind. I’m moving to a new city where I only know a handful of people, with nothing but a few suitcases and a humanities degree from a tiny college no one’s ever heard of. I’m really uncertain about a lot of things right now, but I’m sure about one thing: today my parents gave me back a bit of my childhood and a film with a message even more relevant today than it was when a younger me loved it. 

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays. Hope all of your wishes come true 💙