Skip to main content

Blubbering Idiot

While doing crunches this morning, I turned on the TV to keep my mind off the exercise I was about to do and the movie "Gran Torino" was playing. It was nearly 3/4 of the way done. Perfect, I thought, I can watch the end of one of my newest favorite movies. Fifteen minutes later, I'm a puddle of tears on the floor. The end of that movie dissolves me to tears every time - and I think I've seen it now about six or seven times. When Clint Eastwood's character goes about his last day - including a lame confession with the priest - locking 'Toad' in the basement, I begin to get weepy. SCENE SPOILER ALERT! But when he is shot down and is splayed as though crucified on the cross, I become a blubbering idiot. So much softness and sacrifice in one so tough and gruff - it highlights the intensity of his sacrifice for his new family next door.

I only need watch the last few minutes of "Gran Torino" to get the full emotional effect.

The same can be said for "It's a Wonderful Life". Another movie that I need only watch the last few moments, including when the friends and family stream in to donate to George Bailey's cause, before I  dissolve to tears and become a blubbering idiot. It's probably a far more common reaction to "It's a Wonderful Life". I wonder how many people have a similar reaction to "Gran Torino" -  consistently.

It's true I well-up at Hallmark, McDonald's and Folger's commercials. Especially around the holidays. It's true I get teary eyed at my children's achievements and moments. It's true that when Pastor Dan is preaching an emotional sermon, I will likely need a tissue or two. I have never had a tough skin. Like Jell-O that didn't properly set, I have never become hardened to life's sadder moments. It must translate to a hyper-empathy level than the average person. Or something like that.

I see and feel sadness and happiness in powerful degrees. This blubbering idiot is three quarters heart and one quarter brain!

Comments

  1. Your emotional reactions definitely resound w/ me. I think your Grandpa Bowen's genes show up in both of us. I think my sons know when something will make me get teary before I do. I love good movies. But then again, maybe you were really crying because of the crunches!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My guarantee tear-jerker: The Color Purple when Whoopie Goldberg (Celie) cries out: "Nettie!" in the flower field. I can turn to the movie right at this point and start balling like I've watched the whole movie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A soft heart is a Gift from God, Kathleen. It's my belief that a soft heart leads you to many of God's Blessings, ergo, you are truly blessed!
    Oh and btw, those holiday commercials are just around the bend. Let us invest in the Kleenex company together! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love that my family, sister in tears each of you!, all have similar blubbering inclinations! Grandpa lives in each of us!!!
    Love you all!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Francis of Assisi would run away from home if he lived here!

The title might be a bit extreme - Francis might just go to his room and shut the door and put a pillow over his head to silence the 'noise'. I have done that on occasion. And not because I have toddlers, or a kid that plays the drums or even really loud kids - it's because I live in a house where there is one lawyer, one law school student, and two more potential lawyers. And me - the one singing "Let there be peace on earth . . ." The other four Piggins family members enjoy debating. Sometimes, I think for the sake of the debate. John, Michael, Matthew and Delaney seem to really like these 'discussions'. For instance, we were watching a television show recently - I cannot even recall which one, but it seemed fairly bland - when one of the barrister Piggins made a comment that inspired disagreement from another barrister Piggins. That inspired another from another. And then one more from another until the four of them were debating on some point that wa...

You don't know me . . .

I stopped blogging for awhile. I know some might think that I was being lazy, or overly-involved in some community or school venture or in the middle of some really good books or projects. While all of those are true, that's not the main reason. I stopped because it felt strange to be somewhere and have someone refer to something I wrote. It was like they knew a secret about me (though secrets are not usually published on the Web) that I hadn't shared with them. Though in reality I had shared because I wrote it on the blog.  Truth be told, I don't know who reads this - I have a smattering of followers but a lot more readers. Blogger lets me see how many page views for each posting and I can even tell the referral site. The most I have had for any post was 152 and I've had readers from as far away as New Zealand (thank you Gretchen) and Alaska. Most readers are referred through Facebook. I know that if I were more diligent, I could market the crap out of the blog ...

Struggling to not feel like a failure

Okay all of you 'struggling to stand' or 'not wanting to have to use a wheelchair' or others that look upon using a wheelchair as a symbol of failure, you're about to get punched. Punched in the figurative sense. I am about to go on my soap box and my Irish is up which means that I'm fairly peeved (though I've been mulling this over for awhile so I'm not as angry as I once was, which means there will be fewer expletives and a kinder tone). If you've read this blog or know me at all, you know that I did not go easily into using a wheelchair as my primary mode of transport. I too, may have had a little bit of your attitude about the wheelchair being sign of failure or of having given up. My sister, Kerri, helped put it in a different light. She said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "It's actually an energy saver since walking is stressful and you're worried about falling - using a wheelchair will take away a lot of that stress. You will hav...