11-12-13 RMB Impossible

11-12-13 RMB Impossible

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

I skipped my walk today, to watch a movie with my trio of nephews that I saw advertised and determined that they should see. So, together with the sister too, we sat down to eat dinner and watched The Impossible about a family that survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami staring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. I give this film the maximum number of stars for the best rating.

I watched the boys watch the movie. They were both impressed and inspired by the trio of sons that did all they could to help their parents and others.

What I hoped to accomplish by acquiring and presenting this film to them, was to give them a sense of what is important, of what is valuable. The toys they argue over, the priorities they place on besting one another, their unquenchable need to have the most, be first, all that and more, pales in comparison to the value of life when you are watching your injured mother struggle to live.

Tomorrow they will find something to argue about. All of our talk on this Tuesday night, about the film and this family that survived tragedy, will be lost in the daily tug of war between three boys, rambunctious and anxious to take on the world. Yet, I have to hope that somewhere in their subconscious, elements of this night, the feeling of compassion and determination, of triumph and joy, will reside and affect them.

This is why we write our stories and retell those of others, to inspire, enlighten and encourage one another. We package our lessons in films and books or specific immortalized lives, not to worship certain people, but to find clarity in life and matters of the heart. There is greatness out there and it resides in every human being, in every soul.

Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, the list goes on and on of people who exemplified humankind’s capacity for courage, faith and justice. We must be reminded that each one of us holds unmeasurable potential. The human spirit is exactly that, a spirit, vast and free, gentle and strong.

Thank you for writing your story RMB and for inspiring me to write these letters. In tomorrow’s tug of war, my hope is that the reader of them will be affected by these words, find more strength within themselves, offer more kindness to others and exceed their own expectations.

Yours truly,

Loraine