I thought I'd do some work on my score while watching a movie tonight. Got an account at a local video rental store, rented "Little Miss Sunshine," sat down to work, and didn't get a thing done. I was engrossed in this family that was nothing like mine but everything like mine.
As Leo Tolstoy once said (in one way or another), "All normal families are the same, each dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way." This, however, does not keep us from recognizing ourselves in the mishaps of the Hoover family as they try to get their youngest, Olive, to the Little Miss Sunshine competition in Redondo Beach.
I laughed at their ridiculous behavior, covered my mouth in shock as they "stole" their grandfather out of the hospital, felt embarrassed as Olive began her routine at the pageant, and ultimately cried like a baby at the end over missing my own family, no matter how much we get on each other's nerves.
Family is family. You smack each other around, use past embarrassments against each other, hold grudges, poke fun, talk about failures in hushed corners, yell at each other for no reason, stop talking all together for years, ruin holidays, nearly get in huge car accidents because you're throwing shit at each other while driving, steal crap out of each other's rooms, squabble over Happy Meal toys, lick all the cookies so no one else can eat them, and poke each other in the back of the neck until you all end up screaming simultaneously.
But when the chips are down, you show up. You love each other....or at the very least, you pat each other on the back and say it's going to be okay. I've hated every family member I have at least once in my life, but I wouldn't be anywhere without them and I can't imagine my life in their absence. They are my laughter, my history, my roots and my redemption. And on my worst days, I thank heavens for a good family joke.
Maybe the old fool would like a pickle...just like Jenny.
See the movie.
1 comment:
Hugs for you.
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