This has been a great week for stories. I started the
week by watching Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South (thank you Anne, for the
recommendation.) Watching this made me realize how powerful a story’s ending can
be. The morning after I finished the mini-series, I put the DVD back in the
player and re-watched the last scene; it was just so perfect. I knew I
would have to return the movie to the library soon, but I left it in the
player anyway. Before dropping it off the next day, I re-watched the
last two scenes. After it had been returned and a late fee had been
avoided, it dawned on me what a wonderful thing YouTube is. I searched for
“North and South ending” and re-watched (again, and yes, again.) As I reveled
in the absolute perfection of that final scene, (next up, I must get the book) I naturally thought about the endings that I have
written. If
endings can be this powerful, surely mine need reworking!
North and South was not the only story I experienced this
week. I also read The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt. (Loved it!) And right now I’m completely enraptured by John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars. I am
laughing, crying and totally in love with these characters. And it makes me
wonder a little about why we want movies, books, and songs to take us on these
roller-coaster rides of emotion.
After several months of listening to the latest Jack's Mannequin CD, I finally ejected it from my car player and turned on the radio. I heard a song called "Glad You Came" that immediately brought me to
tears. I’m talking wracked with sobs, need to
pull over to get myself together tears. I have no idea what the song is
really about. I didn’t process any of the other lyrics. It was just that particular line, “I’m glad
you came” that struck me. There was a time, when my dad was suffering with dementia, but still
living at home. I went over each afternoon to visit and bring he and my mother
their evening meal. Each time, as I went to leave, he would walk me back out to
my car. One day he stood there at the drivers side door and I waited as he
searched for words that eluded him. Finally, like it was the most important
thing in the world, he said “I’m Glad You Came.”
