those chick flicks

Remember when we watched Romancing the Stone, Six Days Seven Nights, Green Card, True Lies, Overboard, A Walk in the Clouds, First Knight, Zorro, The Goodbye Girl, The Family Stone, Far and Away, Maverick, Something's Gotta Give, As Good as it Gets, and French Kiss in what seemed like a never-ending cycle? There were others, but those ones were always the mainstays - chick flicks. You grew to love them - or rather, you loved watching them with me. I loved watching them with you too... we would start talking about something in the movie, an idea, or a gesture or the way they kissed, or the emotion behind something they said, or we'd chide them for their blindness, or find ourselves remembering some event in our early life together, or with our kids, or we'd take a moment to wonder what it would have been like if we'd done something similar... you didn't want to watch blood and gore, or movies that got too involved, too suspenseful or too dramatic - you wanted to watch romance in the making in the middle of an adventure, and then, as the movie progressed, you'd cuddle with me until we were slowly lulled into asleep, although I sometimes watched the movie to the end no matter how many times I'd seen it! And yet, it was always fun, always as if it were the first time, always exciting to pop the movie into the player and get ready to watch it with you.
I haven't watched any of those flicks lately. It's just not fun to watch a chick flick by yourself. It's okay, because I've been watching other movies and I watch them with Sam or with Clo or with Anto and Moni... or all of us together. And if I'm alone, I watch thrillers, which is more enjoyable without your annoying observations about some actor's/actress's body or real-life messy love-life, or those exasperating derrogatory remarks about the flashbacks being purposely too confusing, followed by inevitable scoffs about Hollywood tactics until I lose the thread; or I watch old black and white movies or musicals, 2 genres you never liked. But on Friday in class, we watched Overboard, and I explained about chick flicks - and it made me think of you with a smile and that old familiar love.

Belated Apology - okay!

Earlier today, I published a belated apology. Whether it was accepted or not is still unclear, but one thing I do know - it was heard and acknowledged, so there's no reason to keep it published (and publicized) mission accomplished!

Twenty!

She's 20! She's through with the teens. Twenty is a number that says something. It stands for balance and perspective. You know you're an individual, a separate peson, when you're 20. It's the reward for having reached and crossed over a threshhold. No one can call you a teenager and lump you in with those who fall into that unfortunate category. Yet you don't have to be a real 'adult' either. 20 is like a rehearsal, with lots of room to adapt and grow into the role. In fact, what you are when you're 20 is a young person! It's a very gratifying thing to be. A young person.

She's 20 today and she's going to be 20 for a whole year! Does she feel the difference? Knowing her, I believe she does. Is she ready for it? Knowing her, I believe she is.

Happy Birthday Carm! Twenty years old today!
Good going so far; good things coming ahead.
And always and evermore, my love.