Happy Endings

March 1, 2009 0 Comments

I admit it. I am a little slow when it comes to sitting down to watch a movie. I might eventually get around to seeing one after it has been out for a couple of years. Another important detail about me is I don’t waste my time watching something that is just going to make me cry. Life has enough emotion in every day living to satisfy me. I don’t need any artificial contributing factors.

With that said, I recently sat down with my girls to watch The Notebook. They had watched it twice a week for about a month and kept coming back for more. I hadn’t even paid attention to what was on other than it was ABC Family channel, so I figured it couldn’t be totally horrible. Oh, and if you haven’t seen The Notebook, you’d better stop here and go watch it, otherwise this post will really ruin things for you.

This particular evening, I caught myself glimpsing at the TV as I worked on a puzzle with my husband. I noticed a really hot looking guy desperately trying to get the attention of a girl, and I noticed a very aged James Garner, an acting icon from my past. We used to watch the Rockford Files religiously when I was a kid, and I have always liked his energy. The next thing I knew, I was glued to the chair staring at the TV complaining about how there were way too many commercials. We have a DVR, but we were watching it live for the 27th time.

To avoid dragging this out too much, I loved the story. The young guy was absolutely HOT, and his passion and dedication to a girl he loved was a most beautiful thing. Heck, their passion for each other was downright intoxicating. He has a dream or vision, includes her in on the dream, never lets his dream die even when it appears all hope is lost. In the end he gets his girl, she gets her man, and they live happily ever after.

As the story progressed, I realized what was going on. This old couple was together in a retirement home. He chose to be there, not because he needed to be, but because he was taking care of his sweetheart, staying by her side, even though she rarely even remembered who he was. Alzheimer’s had ravaged her memories, yet she had written their love story in a notebook so he could read it to her and remind her of their love. Doing so gave him a 30 second window in which she once again recognized and loved him with all her heart.

My daughters argue with me about the ending. They think I am nuts because I say I won’t watch a sad movie, yet I tell everyone they should see The Notebook. They insist it is a sad movie. I insist endings don’t get any happier than this one. What is your opinion?

James Garner’s character suffers a heart attack, yet he survives. His wife continues to get worse remembering him less and less with each passing day. Near the end, he sneaks to her room to check on her one evening. In a moment of lucidity, she recognizes him and asks him if their love can truly take them anywhere and do anything. He tells her that in fact it can.

This old couple who have lived a wonderfully full life devoted to each other fall asleep in one another’s arms never to awaken again in this dimension. Yes, it brings a tear, but those are tears of triumph, not sadness. Those are tears of recognition that my hunk and I are on a journey that has a passion as intense as theirs. Just maybe we will be so lucky as to cross over together at the end of a long and most fulfilled life.

Just thinking about it makes me want to go kidnap my man and…uh…make some memories.   :-)

In my book, THAT is the ultimate fairytail ending.

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