It was shortly after the 2000 year. I was visiting with my sister being very much pregnant with my third child while our little children played together. Her oldest daughter is 18 months older than my oldest son, who was 3 and a half at the time and who is a year older than my daughter. Having them all close in age made it fun for visiting and watching the children play and interact with one another. My sister also had twin boys around 6 or 7 months old at the time. Although the children loved looking and holding the babies they weren't quite mobile enough to keep the older children's attention much of the time. The older children were much happier playing with the toys in the bedroom.
At the time my sister lived in a small apartment getting ready to buy a house. We were in the kitchen starting to get a late lunch ready. We decided to feed the twins first then the older children since they were happily playing in the bedroom. My sister and I talked and laughed as she fed one twin and I fed the other jarred baby food mixed in with a little baby cereal. Moments passed when her daughter entered the kitchen area looking around.
"Where's Bam-Bam?" she asked. Bam-Bam was the nickname we had given to my oldest son, Christian. He had beautiful white hair and was a solid little guy like the cartoon character from the Flintstones.
Lisa and I looked at each other bewildered. "What do you mean 'Where's Bam-Bam'"? I asked her.
"Oh, he's just gone." she says in a matter-of-factly childish voice. She turns around and prances off, her blonde pigtails bouncing off her sholders.
"GONE?" my sister and I shout out.
We both stand up from the table and dash into the bedroom. My daughter Beth and Abbie resumed playing with Barbie dolls on the floor. Other than that the room was quiet. My sister opens her bedroom door and looks around. No little boy to be found. I look into the bathroom which is directly next to my nieces bedroom and across from my sister's bedroom. Even though he wasn't fully potty trained yet I was hoping to see him on the toilet. Nothing. I met up with my sister in the livingroom. From there we can see every room in the apartment. We stood there in awe looking around trying to make sense out of the whole situtation. From the kitchen table we can see the only door in the apartment and we didn't see it open. Besides, it was locked with a sliding chain lock.
"Do you think he could of tried to open the door and was able to squeeze through the opening?" my sister asked me as we both stared at the door.
My brain went numb. He never tried to leave the house before. But there is always a first time. I shrugged my sholders and shook my head, "I don't know. I am not sure."
"I am going outside to look. Stay here with the kids." she directed to me.
I go back into the kitchen. Could he have climbed into the cupboards and we didn't notice? I thought. The twins were happily slapping their hands into their plates of mushy goo and sucking on their fingers. I bend over and open up all the cupboards. Nothing. My chair was up against a sliding glass door which let to a small porch. I know he wasn't out there. I could hear my sister calling Christian's name from outside. The windows are open? Could he have pushed on a screen and fall out? My sister's apartment was 2 stories up. I run into my sister's bedroom. The screen was intact. I jolt into my niece's room. The screen was intact there too. Where could he have gone?! It seemed as if time was standing still. Seconds were dragging on, so it seemed. I looked at my niece's bed and quickly bent down to look under it. Nothing. I look around her room. In her closet was her toy box with chalkboard sliding doors. The doors were closed. I had to look. I slide one door open and there was my son! He was fast asleep in the toy box.
I went over to the window and called out to my sister to let her know I found him. She runs upstairs and flys into the apartment. "Where is he?" she calls out relieved but wanting visual confirmation.
I smile and point her over to the toy box. She looks in and sees him sleeping. My daughter and niece laugh at the site of Christian in there. "There's Bam-Bam!" my niece calls out.
Christian asleep in my niece's toy box.
His feet on the other side of the toy box.
I slide him carefully out of the toy box and lay him down on the couch. He never once opened his eyes as I transferred him to a more comfortable, and noticable, location. I don't know what made him think to fall asleep in the toy box and not in another area more comfortable like the bed or the couch. I know I will never know. I don't think I took my eyes off of him for the rest of the day.
It was the summer of 1995. I just finished off my senior year at Grandville High School and I was getting ready to attend Grand Valley State University in the fall. I ended up getting a new job as a waitress at a popular chain restaurant in western Michigan. I am not going to reveal the name of this restaurant as they are still in business and well respected in the area. I still enjoy their great food and delicious pies, especially my personal favorite, rhubarb pie.
It started out as a great place to work. The servers had a set schedule to work during the week. It made it easy for those who were moonlighting other jobs. Breakfast and dinner staff never intertwined. If a server worked Friday then they would have Saturday off and next weekend the server would work Saturday and have Friday off. The restaurant was closed Sundays. The schedule was fair to all. On occurances if someone needed their time off they would post a note on a bulletin board in the break room. Servers wanting more hours can look at the board and pick up other server's hours. It worked out quiet nice.
Upon my hiring I told my manager that on Thursday nights that he had me scheduled I would have to change it because I was already scheduled to have an evening class Thursday nights. He was wonderful about it and said when the time got closer that we would be able to switch it around. I was thrilled working there with a set schedule and a great staff. I waitressed at a previous restaurant, Apple Blossom Family Restaurant, and I really enjoyed it.
During my break, one day, I was in the mood for a bowl of cheesy broccoli soup. I went to another waitress to ring up my order.
"You don't want a bowl." she replies back to me.
I give her a strange look, "Yes, I do." I say politely yet firmly back.
"Trust me, " she says, "Let me ring you up a cup of soup then I will show you why."
She leads me over to where the soups are kept. Several keg style containers held a variety of soups. The waitress dips the ladel in the cheesy broccoli soup and pours it into my cup. It filled the cup.
"Now watch this." she says. She dips the same ladel into the soup and pours it into the bowl. It fills up that as well. "The presentation of it plays with your mind. The cup is smaller but taller than the bowl whereas the bowl is wider giving the impression of having more."
I was shocked by the revelation. How sneaky! I wondered how many other restaurants do that same trick. From then on in my life when I order soup I order the cup, never a bowl.
Things were going smoothly for a few more weeks until one weekend night. It must of been a hot evening because the customers who were coming in were wanting sundae's. Part of our job as a waitress was to make the sundae's. I have never been good at scooping ice cream. It's cold and hard and if you don't watch your grip your scoop can go flying across the room. Somehow as I scoop, the back of my hand would touch the sides of the container getting the back of my hands all full of ice cream. I just didn't like the added mess. But scooping was part of the job so I didn't mind it too much having to scoop now and then.
I had two masterpiece large hot fudge sundae's on a tray that I was about to take out. The 3 scoops of ice cream was layered with hot fudge, topped with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry placed perfectly on top. It was so beautifully made that it should of been a picture. I pick up the tray and begin to take it out. The manager comes around the corner and stops me looking concerned.
"Did you measure those sundae's?" he asks.
"Measure? I didn't know we had to weigh them." I replied back.
He lead me back over to the dessert station and in the back corner he pulls out a small scale. He places one of the sundae's on the scale. It was way over the recommended weight for the sundae's. He told me to give these sundae's to the dishwashers to eat and he would show me how to make a sundae within the recommended weight. He drops two small scoops of ice cream into the tall dessert glass. He drizzles a scoopful of the hot fudge over the top and lightly adding the whipped cream, nuts and cherry. He places the sundae back on the scale. It was the recommended weight. It was sad looking. All the sundae pieces were within the sides of the glass. It was nothing like picture perfect. I would be disappointed if I was served this. But he made me serve it anyway. With a sad heart I delivered my pitaful sundae's.
Shortly later another table orders sundae's, both large and small. I was annoyed how the small and the large sundae held the same amount of scoops yet I had to make it look like the large had more. Sure enough as I was about to serve them the manager comes around the corner and wanted to see the weight on my sundae's. It was still over the recommended weight. This time he wanted me to give them to the cooks and do it again. I was getting very frustrated over this. I did like he said but I guess my scoops held more than his did.
More and more tables were ordering sundae's. It seemed like a cruel joke. I just couldn't get them right. The manager was getting more and more upset with me. When a customered ordered them I would wait to make them until I knew the manager was either in the back room harrassing someone else or on the floor checking up on other tables. I was about it tears. At one point I had to grab another waitress to make them for me because I didn't want to get yelled at again. She left them on the counter for me. I grabbed my tray and the sundae nazi of a manager came around the corner. He looked at my sundae's. I looked back at him with a confident smile since I knew they had to of been right since the other waitress made them for me. He picked one up and placed it on the scale. It was over by a few ounces. He told me to make them again. Seriously? A few ounces over! I was ready to toss the sundae at him. At one point I was so nervous making the sundae's that as I was delivering them to an elderly couple the tall glass tipped over and accendently dropped one in the lap of the elderly gentleman. I was so shocked. I never dropped anything before and of course it had to be on this day with the hot fudge sundae. I offered to pay for their desserts and I went back to make another one for him. I wanted to crawl into a hold after that moment.
After when customers were through eating I would stop asking them for dessert. I purposely was rude to customers and not go back to check on them because I didn't want them to order sundae's. I would walk by acting like I was extremely busy and place their check's down on the table. I just wanted my hellish night of sundae making to be over with. Some customers just came in for dessert and I would cringe when they would order the sundae's. I wanted to tell them that the sundae's were not impressive, that they were lacking in every which way but I couldn't. I wanted to let them know that they would be disappointed in my sundae's as the manager made me make them look pitiful and not delicious looking like the picture in the menu. Then I would turn and enter the kitchen of doom to prepare their lousy dessert.
The night finally ended and I was more than glad to go home. I don't think that manager ever bothered me about the desserts ever again. I don't know if he was having a bad day and taking it out on me or what his deal was that night. I just let it go and put that bad day behind me.
College was starting up soon and I talked with him about changing my schedule around like he promised when I first signed up to work at the restaurant. He changed his story around and said it was my responsibility to find someone to work my shift. I was upset by that. I asked around but servers either needed that day at home or they worked another job and couldn't do it. That Thursday afternoon, when I knew my manager would be there, I called in and said I wouldn't be coming anymore. He asked me why. I told him my class was more important and I couldn't find anyone to switch a day with him. He was upset with me. I reminded him what he said when he first hired me and he tried to apologize but it was too late. It was time for me to move on and start another chapter in my life.
Have you ever heard a song and flashed back to a memory from when you were young? I believe certain songs, when heard at the right moment, helps create a special memory that is forever stored in a file located way back in the corner of our brains. I have several songs that when I hear them I am catapulted back in time to relive the moment in my thoughts.
It was the summer of 1992. I finished up my freshman year of high school at Nouvel Catholic Central in Saginaw. Unfortunally, I enjoyed many other things rather than school and my grades suffered because of that. Since my grades were well below "f"antastic I had to take a few classes of summer school at Arthur Hill High School.
It wasn't so bad taking summer classes. Some of my friends that aided in my dimishing grades were the same ones in my classes at "The Hill". Personally, I think we all corrupted each other and we enjoyed it. Before school and out on breaks we would gather in packs out in the parking lot to see who has cigarettes and some would be passed around. Sometimes the security guard would even walk over and smoke with us. He would never give out one of his cigarettes but he would offer his zippo for anyone who needed it.
One beautiful warm summer day we were tired of sitting in the classroom. We passed notes with each other daring to just get up and walk out. Finally, my friend Shannon and I decided to go for it. Right in the middle of class we packed up our stuff and just blatantly walked out of class. We went out to the parking lot for a cigarette and to decided what to do next. Soon another friend, Erin, joined in with another girl from class. FREEDOM! We decided to call a friend of ours ,Scott who just graduated from another school, to come and pick us up. We walk back to the school parking lot to wait.
Scott pulls into the parking lot in his pick-up. He brought along his friend Joe. Shannon shouts out, "SHOT-GUN!" and squeezes her way between them in the front. Erin, the other girl, and myself climb up and over into the bed of the truck and make ourselves comfortable in the corners of the truck resting our arms on the side. We took off. The music was loud and we were young and carefree.
Scott turns down the radio and hollar's out that he has a new song for us to listen to. He opens up the cassette case and pops a cassette into the player in the dash. We start to hear the lyrics:
Blame it all on my roots
I showed up in boots
And ruined your black tie affair...
We all started to groan and scream, "NOOOO! IT'S COUNTRY! WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO COUNTRY?!" But Scott was persistent that we listened to it.
The song grew on us. It wasn't long after that we were wanting to listen to Garth Brook's "Friends In Low Places" song. By the time school dances came around we all had the song memorized and we would sing along, badly, with the lyrics.
This was my first exposure (besides Kenny Rodgers but everyone loves his classic songs) to country music. His album "No Fences" was enjoyable. To my suprise the album came out 2 years prior. I still prefer other methods of music genre over country music but I can tolerate some country songs.
As a child I dreaded storms. It terrified me. Looking back now I think maybe it was when the lights would go out that would terrify me more. It seemed with every strong storm our lights would go out leaving us in the dark. I would cry and be in such a fright that I could barely move. I would freeze up. When WNEM TV 5 out of Saginaw would interrupt a show forcasting a storm I would start to get nervous. I ran around the house gathering up all the candles, batteries and flashlights and placing them on our coffee table. My sister would grab blankets and pillows and have them ready in case a tornado was spotted and we had to make a mad dash downstairs to our creepy basement. As much as I feared tornado's I think I feared our basement more. It would be a hard decision on what I would rather had to deal with.
I remember hearing a story of how a tornado came across Saginaw and damaged the huge concrete blue whale at the Saginaw Children's Zoo. I loved that whale. At our cabin at Houghton Lake we would see boats that broke loose from their anchors or docks float on by. Trees would bend and break. My grandpa would drive us around afterward to survey the damage and to see if anyone needed help. I even recall a time when a tornado has been spotted in Houghton Lake and we had to run across to our neighbors to take shelter. As a child that can be scary.
One day I was reading a Highlights magazine. In it was a poem from a child about how he looks at lightning storms as God's fireworks for us to enjoy. That really hit me. I loved fireworks. How could storms be much different. I was looking forward to the next lightning storm. I don't remember how long I had to wait but I knew I would look at it differently. I still gathered up the candles, batteries and flashlights for same measure.
From that point on I fell in love with the storms. Each lightning strike was unique in its own way. Even the thunder was interesting to listen to. Some would start out with a low crackling sound and roar its way to a loud boom. Some would give no warning before its blast that would shake the whole house. Before I would know it I could hear the faint sounds of thunder fading away in the distance and the rain would slowly come to an end. Even the power of the wind was amazing. Trees that have been planted in the Earth for years can bend over in the sharp wind and some can even snap. There is an awe about it. Hail was a special treat because we didn't see that too often. The fun part was when the storm was done my sibilings and I would dash outside and collect all the hail. My mom would stick it in the freezer to save it for us. I am sure she took it out when we stopped thinking about it.
It was a real treat when I was dating Brian and we would drive off to Saugatuck, Mi. and head to Oval Beach and watch the storms come in from across Lake Michigan. The lightning would stretch out its fingers across the dark cloudy sky and light it up. Some streaks would dip down and touch the lake. It was a beautiful sight. I find the storms so inspiring and peaceful.
Picture by Wunderground.com Lightning over Lake Michigan.
Photo by JessicAllen in the News Sun Times looking over Lake Michigan.
Once we had children I wanted to pass my love of storms down to them. They get excited when they see storm clouds coming. We can see the storms coming in from the west. At times, in our location, it seems as if the storms split in two and avoids teasingly. Some of the dark clouds will dip south and heads towards Mt. Pleasant and other clouds will head north around the Cadillac area and persue east from there. We can stand outside and hear the thunder booming around us while looking up and seeing blue skies.
One particular storm I remember where an F1 torando came across Osceola County knocking down trees to Spring Hill Camp. The kids and I were expecting my mom, my sister and her children to swing by on their way from Houghton Lake. She said the wind was so fierce on the highway that they had to pull over and go into a ditch while it poured rain and and hailed. She was probably 15 miles from our house. She gets to our house and looks down at our gravel driveway and noticed that it was completely dry. My children were outside looking at the dark swirling clouds to the north and not very far away. The storm missed us by a few miles.
Another time we just got chickens and put up a metal shed to turn that into the chicken coop. No more than a month later a severe wind storm came across. No rain, just wind. Brian and I were watching TV when we looked out the picture window and see our shed breaking apart and blowing across the yard. It was like seeing something out of the Wizard of Oz. We ran outside to catch it. A few of our older children came out also to help. It took four of us to grab a hold of the roof that detached itself from the walls to pull it back to where we had our chicken coop set up. Amazingly there wasn't a single chicken that was injured or killed during that event.
There is something, now, that draws me in to watching a good storm. The smell in the air before the storm and after is refreshing. You can't explain it but you know when that storm smell is in the air. Maybe it's seeing God's force in nature that is amazing. I am not sure. But I do know that storms are a beauty in itself.
There is a playful innocense in childhood. Imaginations drift to their furthest potential in those young developing years. Somewhere in time we lose that creativity in our minds. We stop using that playfulness our minds can produce and replace it with an older way of thinking. Here, I think back to that time when I was a young child who had fun with an imagination that was endless.
I was the youngest in my family. My brother is 4 years older than me and my sister is 7 years older. There were times when I wanted to play a game that was more in my age range like Candy Land or Go Fish and no one wanted to play with me. I would ask my mom but she would be preoccupied with something. Often she would tell me to play on my own. And I did. I invented a friend. Jody was her name. She was about my age, dark hair and great at everything. We would play games or Barbies, go on adventures outside, dance and even swing on the swingset. I had a great vivid imagination and sometimes my imagination would step outside of the boundries and leak into the real world.
One day Nonnie, that is what we called our grandmother, was watching me. I think my mom was at a school event for my brother and sister. Nonnie was busy doing something and "Jody" and I were busy playing house. We would act like we had important guests coming over for tea and we were preparing for their arrival. We even dressed up for the occasion.
I excused myself to use the bathroom. A pretend knock was at the door. "Hang on, Jody. I am almost done." I would call out.
I opened the bathroom door. "Oh, You have to use it too, Jody?" It may have looked like I was starting off into thin air but in my mind "Jody" was really there. "Okay, you can use it now. I will even lock the door for you so you can have some privacy." I turned the lock and shut the door. I went back to my bedroom and resumed setting my bed up to be used for the tea party. We had very important stuffed animal guests that were to arrive at any moment now.
Our house had 2 bathrooms in it. Actually one was a half bath. It was very small. A daddy long-leg spider often camped out in a small web in the corner right above the toilet. My sibilings and I avoided that bathroom because of it. The spider could of used the advantage of us sitting on the toilet to swing down on its web and crawl into our ears and lay eggs. It probably wouldn't of happened but we were young and we didn't want to take any chances. Our main bathroom was the only door in the house that had a lock on it besides the doors that lead outside. This was our main bathroom in the house.
Nonnie comes around the corner to use the bathroom and found out it was locked. "Jill?" she asks seeing if I was in there.
"I am in here." I call out to her from my bedroom.
Confusion crosses her face. "If you are in the bedroom who is in the bathroom?"
"Jody is in there." I state matter of factly.
"Oh, I didn't know you had a little friend over. When did she come over?" Nonnie says as she is entering my bedroom.
"She's been over. She's my imaginary friend!" I said giggling.
Nonnie looked at me with her eyes popping out of her head, "Your IMAGINARY friend?"
"Yep," I reply innocently back, "She had to use the bathroom."
"How are we supposed to open the door!?" Nonnie asks the question out in the air rather than to me. "I need to use it!"
She quickly goes to use the smaller bathroom. She came back with a coat hanger that was straigtened out. She used one end and stuck it into a tiny hole in the door handle trying to unlock the door. It wasn't working. The lock was the kind that you had to push in and twist. She ended up calling my mom's boyfriend to come over and see if he could do something to open the door. He came over and they both pondered over the door.
I remember sitting on my bed, across from the bathroom, hearing them trying different techniques to open it. I even heard talk of taking down the door. As a child it sounded like a major project. I felt horrible. I didn't mean to cause such a commotion. Nonnie somehow knew I was upset. She came in to talk with me. She told me that I should of known better than to lock the door with no one inside. She went on saying it is fine to have imaginary friends but have them lock the door by themselves next time. I remember laughing at that. The door finally opened and all was well with the world again. "Jody" and I resumed our tea party as we had our important guest waiting.
Somewhere in the time of growing up "Jody" faded away. I cannot help but smile as I look back at my childhood and my over active imagination.
My top 10 favorite movies was a hard list to come up with. I have an eclectic taste when it comes to movies. Personally, I enjoy history, whether it be in studing about it, movies or in books. I haven't found a historical movie that I didn't care for. It also depends on my mood if I am interested in a good war movie, romance, horror, or comedy, just to name a few. I like movies that can pull me in and have me feel what the characters are feeling. I am not going to write movie reports about all 10 of the movies I personally picked. However, I will explain why this movie has a high place of value in my favorite list.
10.THE STAND: This is one of those movies where the plot is good verses evil; heaven verses hell; right verses wrong. Who says this apocalyptic themed movie couldn't really happen? I am not saying it will but the idea of it could happen. Scientists could create a massive illness that could wipe off over half of the worlds population. The Black Death in Europe in 1348-1350 it was estimated that up to 200 million people died (up to 60% of the population). We do have better medical technology today than we did 700 years ago but it did happen and who's to say that it cannot happen again?! It is a twisted lottery of fate of whether you got the illness or not. The lack of people means lack of food, lack of electricty, and lack of other means. Survival is the key. People have to rely on their skills and other people to survive.
The movie gave a great illustration of what the end times could be like. Would Satan tempt you to do his work all for power and glory or would you stay on the straight and narrow no matter how hard it can be? Who can you learn to trust? At the end good does triumph over evil and life begins pure and new again.
9. SOMEWHERE IN TIME:I never heard of this 1980 movie until the time Brian and I went to Mackinac Island the summer of 1995 (Fun, Fudge and Nuptials July 24, 2012 blog http://ymaout.blogspot.com/2012/07/fudge-fun-and-nuptials.html). As we biked our way around the island we came upon a rock with a plaque on it that talks about a scene from the movie being filmed right at that very spot. It wasn't until several years after that trip that we finally got to see the movie. I fell in love with it. Christopher Reeve (Richard) and Jane Seymore (Elise) did a great job working together in this movie.
It's a bad picture of the rock but you get
the general idea of it.
Brian and I trying to recapture the
movements of the actors.
What if you could go back to a moment in your life to relive it? I know it is impossible but that is similar to what happened here. Elise comes to, my guess, the reincarnated Richard in the 1970's and walks up to him and whispers, "Come back to me." and walks away. Years later he takes a vacation (Mackinac Island) and he sees a picture of a young lady and he remembers the old lady who whispered to him and realized it was the same woman. He ends up floating back in time to 1912 to be with her. At the end of the movie he dies alone from a broken heart.
The movie reminds me of those bittersweet moments in our lives where we think they will last forever but in time it is no more. How grand it would be to live that certain moment in our life just one last time!
8. PATRIOT:This movie has a deeper meaning, to me, than the countries rebellion against England. Yes, I do enjoy it for the historical content and the meaning of fighting for something so great that you are willing to lose your life in order for others to have something even better, a chance for freedom. The council meeting at Charlestown would of been very realistic that some were for the rebellion and others wanted to stay under England's control. This was not a decision to be taken lightly. On news sites and radio I hear talk now about people wanting another revolution and that it is time for the common man to stand up to the government and say enough's enough! Are we, as a country, following the same footsteps, that our forefathers did 200+ years ago? Time will tell on that one.
But the deeper meaning has to deal with my ancestry. I do a lot with my genealogy. I had family, traced down on my mother's side, that WAS in the Carolina's during that time. I am still figuring out if they fought in the war or not. I did come across a name, same as my past relative, who was listed as a Loyalist (fought for the British), but I am trying to validate if it is the right person. As I watch the movie I realize it isn't just a movie. My past family lived through it. I am sure they have seen the redcoats. I am sure they seen the American's blue, too. Their lives, no matter what side they were on, were about to change forever no matter the outcome. The reason I love this movie so much is that my roots tie into it.
7. LEAN ON ME:I was 12 years old when this movie came out in 1989. Right away it impacted me. Based on a true story of a principal Joe Clark who turns a poorly run high school in New Jersey into something amazing. He kicked out all the drug dealers, the slackers, and the kids who caused trouble from the school. He gave the kids hope and a vision for the future that they didn't see in themselves before. He brought back school pride to the students. He had to get the students to pass a basic skills test or the state would take over the school and as a school body they all worked together at it. He didn't do all of this accomplishments with ease. He did it in a style all his own and some would even say it was a bit radical. Nonetheless, he got the job done. In the movie a teacher changed the school song and it turned out to be a beautiful song.
I already knew, before I watched the movie, that I wanted to teach. I don't want to be like Joe Clark. I am not that type of person. But I want to be that type of teacher who will make a difference in a child's life. I want them to value the importance of themselves. I want them to go out into the world proud of who they are and where they came from.
6. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA: To me this is one of the greatest love stories. It can be read on the February 14, 2012 blog Bram Stoker's Dracula - A Love Story. http://ymaout.blogspot.com/2012/02/bram-stokers-dracula-love-story.html Dracula loved Mina so much that he didn't want her to be part of the living dead. She feels a deep love for him, a strong connection, where she wants to be part of his life, even in death. At the end of the movie Dracula is badly injured. He knows Mina loves him and asks for her to finish him off. Mina didn't want to see him suffer any longer and knows his heart will be at peace and eventually puts his life to an end. It is a very thought provoking, romantic movie.
5. BRAVEHEART:I had never heard of this movie until the early winter season of 1996. I was attending Grand Valley State University. A few people were talking about the release of the movie on VCR coming up and they were anxious to rent it. They told me a brief background on the movie, how Scotland gain's its freedom, and it sounded rather boring. They insisted I watch it. Then one night someone rented the movie. Around 15 or more people crowed into one of the tiny dorm rooms. The upper and lower bunks were filled with people, the floor was littered with bodies wanting to watch the movie. I had a floor seat leaning up against the bunk bed. I seen the two tapes and thought to myself, 2 tapes? Oh dear Lord this is going to be a looong night! The lights went out and the movie started. Right away it caught my attention. I didn't know this part of history. I know the movie has its flaws on accuracy but it was still good. There was war, romance, small comedy scenes (Stephen was one of my favorites in the movie), history and action. The two VCR tapes of it that I thought would drag through the night actually went by pretty fast. There was so much that was going on in the movie that it kept you on the edge of your seat.
Like The Patroit, this movie is about taking a stand for freedom. It is about the common everyday man who says enough to the government. Many famous lines came out of that movie that I see being tossed around today in reguards to our own government. "There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it" "And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM! !" and "FREEEEEDOOOOM!" that William Wallace shouts out at the end of the movie right before dies.
I had a new insight of death when I seen this movie. Some quotes from the movie, "Every man dies. Not every man really lives", "We all end up dead, it's just a question of how and why," and "You see, death comes to us all." I found those sayings to be true. No matter what we do in life, no matter what paths we take, we all will be dead. Are we doing things in our lives that can and will impact future generations? Not everyone is a William Wallace and can change the course of history for our fellow citizens. But if given a moment to take a stand for something you believed in it should be done at the moment so you don't look back with regret.
4. LOVE AND WAR:I never heard about this 1996 movie until probably 2008 (give or take a year) while I was channel surfing one evening. Sandra Bullock caught my attention as I enjoy her movies. I watched with no clue on what it was about. I kept hearing her talk to a young man, or kid as she refers him to, as Erine. He talked about a cabin up in Michigan and I laughed to myself thinking, "It's probably Earnest Hemingway." And to my suprise it WAS about Earnest Hemingway, a famous writer. The movie is based off of his book A Farewell to Arms. I haven't read the book as of yet but I want to. It is about his romance with a nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky, when he was wounded in the Great War.
Every time I watch this movie I want the ending to change. Ernie loves Agnes very much but she is somewhat older than he is. Agnes is starting to fall in love with Ernie and his boyish ways but the age difference keeps holding her back of loving him fully. He asks for her hand in marriage and she excepts. Her friends eventually talk her out of wedding him and persuades her to date a doctor who also asks for her hand in marriage and she accepts. This tore Ernie up. It crushed his heart. Agnes did not end up marrying the doctor as deep down she realizes she does love Ernie. She goes to his cabin in Michigan to declare her love to him. But it was too late. He put up a brickwall to her. He told her a part of him wants to caress and hold her but the other part cannot. She told Ernie she loves him. He couldn't respond. His heart was turned to stone. She walks away and they never see each other again. For those who don't know the rest of Earnest Hemingway's story he ended up being a heavy drinker, albeit a great prize winning writer, failed at several marriages and he ended up taking his life. I wonder what if. What if Ernie did take Agnes in his arms and married her? Would his fate had been the same? Can a person who's heart was crushed like that ever really love the same way again?
3. STAND BY ME:This was my signature movie growing up. The year was 1987. I was 10 years old. Stand By Me was premiering on HBO. I was spending the night at my best friend, Sara's house. I was going to tape it off HBO. We both loved Corey Feldman and he was in the movie. It probably didn't matter how awful the movie could be, we were determind to like it. And in no time we did just that. We watched the movie over and over. We had the entire movie memorized. A few years ago my husband bought me the DVD version of the movie because he knew it held special memories from my childhood and I still could recite the whole movie by heart.
The main character, Gordie LaChance, was a writer reflecting back on his memories as a kid when he hears about the death of one of his dear friends from childhood. At that time I enjoyed writing and I wondered if I would look back at my childhood the same way. And in a way I think I do.
There were many lines I remember using from that movie. One we used to do all the time when someone says shut-up. "I don't shut-up, I grow up, and when I look at you I throw-up" then you make vomiting noises. The comeback to that line would be, "Then your mother goes around the corner and she licks it up". Another line was "You four eyed pile of shit!" The come back would be, "A pile of shit has a thousand eyes!" Then there was the famous, "Two for flinching" when you act like you are going to punch someone and they jerk back then you punch them hard, twice, in the arm. As I am typing this now I laugh at the stupidity of it but we thought that was very clever.
The mailbox baseball scene gave us ideas of some fun during my adolescent time. We even had a bat named Louie and we would take turns having a swing at it. I lived in the city and we went out to the country for some fun doing that. Train dodging. We didn't have trains by where we lived but we did live on a busy road and we thought it would be fun to run out in front of a car at the last second to cross the street. How stupid we were! We didn't think about what we were doing or the damage we were causing. I am not proud of that part in my life but rewatching this movie I cannot help but reflect on that time.
Just like life, time marches on and people fad in and out of our lives with no apparent reason. At the end of the movie he even talks about it with the famous last line of the movie, "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" We all knew someone in our lives at that time who could fit into one of those character roles: Gordie - the guy who cannot fit in at home just trying to find his way in the world; Chris - the hard knocked rebel who deep down is a nice guy; Vern - the oddball kid that is just silly at times; and Teddy - the one who takes dangerous risks and is out to get everyone. Or maybe there is a little bit of all of them inside of us?
2. LEFT BEHIND:This movie combines my thrill of apocalyptical movies and my love for the Lord. It plays on the idea of what if the rapture would happen. If Jesus were to come down right at this minute to take his children, would you be one of them? I pray that I would be but I don't know. God's standards are set so high. One of my favorite part in the whole movie is when Buck (played by Kirk Cameron) approaches a guy and asks him if he is a good person in God's eyes. Have you ever stole anything, even if it was a pen at work? Then that would make you a thief if you did. Have you ever lusted, even if it is with your mind, after another person? That would make you an adulterer. Have you ever lied to someone about anything, no matter how small the lie is? Then that would make you a liar. By that standard we broke 3 out of the 10 commandment. Hearing that really hits home on how good we are not. We all have room for improvement in God's eyes. Another one of my favorite scenes, and I may be a bit biased here, is where Chole is driving to college when the rapture occurs. Traffic comes to a confused messy standstill on the highway. Chole runs to a semi-truck and opens the door and all that is left is a baseball cap, flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. The truck driver has been raptured! YES! The one that is least expected to flee this Earth in God's calling is the one who goes.
In the making now is a new version of Left Behind staring Nicholas Cage. I am not sure how I will like the new movie but the original version is very impressive. However, the book is better then the movie!
1. NORTH AND SOUTH:I fell in love with this movie the first time I seen it on TV in 1985. I was 8 years old and I was only allowed to see bits and pieces as I would sneak quietly out in the livingroom and hide behind the couch to see it. If I were to sneeze or cough my mom would find me and ship me back off to my bedroom.
It has everything I love in a movie, Civil War theme, action, drama, romance, scandals, and betrayals. There is so much that goes on that it is hard to pinpoint one or two things that I like from the movie. I love it all. I love how Bent from West Point bullies on George and Orie and later on romances the married Ashton to use her husband's money. I love the love triangle between Orie, Madeline and Justin. I love the innocence of Brett and Billy in their relationship. I love the duel of Charles and the soon to be husband of a lover he had one night. George and his Irish wife Constance and the conflict in the Hazzard family. I love how Virgilia goes about in her abolitionist ways and sets a slave free and ends up marrying him. There was not one part of this movie I don't like. I even named our daughter, Ashton, after a character from the movie. We don't like the character of Ashton, as she is set to be a conniving little tramp, but the name sounded beautiful.
It was February 2004. We lived in Allegan. Our children just received money for Valentine's Day and wanted to go shopping. I told the kids (aged almost 7, almost 6, 3 years old and 1 year old) they can buy what ever they want with their money at the store. I loaded up the children and headed towards Meijer's in Planwell, Mi.. We walked around the toy aisle as the children debated on what to get. As the older children looked I would see what toy James (the one year old) would like to have as well. Nothing seemed to grab my or the kids attention.
We walked around the store for other ideas. Then we walked past the small animal area. It was like magnetic beams shot out of their eyes and dragged them across the aisle to look at the birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, and the multitudes of fish. Oh no! I dreaded. The older two looked at the prices and the money they had in their hands. They didn't have enough. Whew!
Moments later Christian and Beth approach me with a smile across their faces. "We know what we want," they said, "We want to buy a hampster!"
"Oh no!" I reply back. "You don't have enough money."
"Yes we do, " Beth chimes back, "If we all put our money together then we have enough to buy 2 hampsters" she says excitedly.
"No! No! No!" I firmly said. "We already have a dog. We do NOT need a hampster!"
"PLEASE?????" the 3 begged beautifully. James would sit in the basket of the cart pointing over at the rodent's in the glass aquarium. "You said we can have ANYTHING in the store?"
Mental note to myself at that moment: NEVER say the words ANYTHING IN THE STORE ever again to my children when we go shopping!
I looked down at their angelic faces. I know deep down this novelty will wear off in a week and I would be the one cleaning the cage and feeding and watering it. Drats! The kids pinned me in the corner when I said that. It was their money and I did say anything. I think just the brillance of them realizing that they can combine their money to get a larger priced item at that age made me give in. "Okay. Beth and Christian, you both pick out one and Ashton, you pick one out for you and James." I chipped in the rest for a cage, food and a ball where the hampster can run around the house in. Sadisticly, I envisioned one of the hampsters running around in this plastic ball and our dog (about 5 years old) chasing it and trying to flick it around the house where the hampster was at the mercy of the dog. Okay, I was ready to bring the hampsters home now.
We brought the hampsters inside and I was giddy to see our dog's reaction. He sniffed them a few times and left them alone. I had the kids pick out their names. Beth and Christian agreed on Pinky because a crazy cartoon Pinky and the Brain. Ashton picked the name Lilo for her black and white hampster after the movie "Lilo and Stitch" which was a popular Disney movie at the time. Sure enough, a few weeks later, the kids paid no mind to the hampsters anymore and I was left to tend to their cleaning and feeding.
It was a warm night. The children were in bed fast alseep. We were watching a movie in the living room relaxing. I was on the couch and Brian was stretched out on the floor. Suddenly Brian jerks back, "What the hell....?"
I look over at him confused.
"Something lifted up on that vent!" The heater vent was right next to the TV. We both stare at it for a moment. Nothing happened.
I sit up and Brian joins me on the couch and we resume watching the movie. We both heard a sound coming from the vent. A loud scratching sound. We picked up the remote and hit the mute button. We both stare at the vent and listen to the fumbling, scratching sounds. The vent lifted up again and a head stuck out from the vent. "A RAT!" Brian shouts.
"A rat?" I wanted to make sure I heard him correctly.
"We need to kill that rat! We cannot have rats in this house!" Brian commands.
We quickly unloaded a medium size box to use as a trap. We planned on waiting until the rat comes out, lay the box on its side for the rat to run into and then tilt the box upright to capture the rat and then killing it.
We watched the vent intently. We were on a mission. I stood off to one side so the rat would run in the other direction where Brian was holding the box waiting for the rat to run into. The vent started to lift up and down. We were curious as to why the rat could lift the vent but neither one of us wanted to get a closer look. The vent was lifting higher. We could see his head. His head would stick out and then go back in. I look up at Brian with delight. We were going to catch us a rat! His head popped back out again. The rat decided to make a run for it and fully came out of the vent. He ran for the box and our plan was set in motion. Brian was able to scoop up the rat with the box and the rat was trapped. "There wasn't a tail on the rat!" I shout out. "It's tailless!"
"Sometimes rats will get their tails caught on something and they lose their tail. It's quiet common." He assured me.
Brian went to look for something to end this rat's life. "I want to take a closer look." I say to Brian.
"Why? They are nasty rodents that we must get rid of!"
"I never seen a rat in real life before. I want to see it before we kill it."
"Be my guest." Brian says back motioning with his hand for me to go to the box.
I look at it. Cute little thing. I think to myself. I take a closer look at his nose. There was some fur that has been rubbed away at it. "Honey, I don't think this is a rat."
"What makes you think that?" Brian inquires.
"His nose. There is fur missing from his nose. I think this is Pinkie." Pinkie had a habit of gnawing at the wires of his cage so much that he rubbed away the fur from his nose.
"There is only one way to make sure." Brian walks over to the hampster cage in the other room and peeks in. Pinkie was missing. Brian goes back over to the box and looks at the rodent in the box very carefully. "You are one lucky hampster!" He picks up the hampster and places him back into his cage.
Sadly, a year later Pinkie's life came to an end. His cagemate Lilo had already passed on earlier. They are both buried outside next to a tree that the kids like to play on. I don't think they kids think much about the hampsters but I have learned two lessons: Be care of what you say and always look twice before killing something. It could be a pet.
