I'm baaaaack for day 26 of National Blog Posting Month!
The subject of being reunited is on my mind today. This is a topic I've wanted to address all month long. As NaBloPoMo draws to its end, I'm glad I've been inspired before my opportunity to include this subject in my collection of posts about things for which I am thankful had passed.
Why am I thinking that I am thankful for being reunited today?
Monday, November 26. 2007
...And It Feels So Good
The movie Homeward Bound!
I watched it with the daycare children during quiet time this afternoon. It is one of my favorite movies in the G-Rated category. It is not necessarily a children's movie, but it has lots of kid appeal. It is a live action movie in which the animals are voiced by actors, and is primarily shot from the pets' perspectives.
In case you are unfamiliar with this movie, here's a very brief synopsis: It's the story of a family's pets who get lost and the struggles they endure - and lessons they learn - as they work together to return to their family, who desperately misses them.
The scene where the pets make their triumphant return is really stirring. It always touches me...softie that I am! It was sweet to watch the three and four year old who were watching with me get excited at the reunion of the pets with their family. I think they got it, at least on some level.
Reunions have deepened meaning for me ever since I have been reunited with my family.
There came a point, about fifteen years ago, when I simply needed to get away from their purview and figure out some issues on my own. Their influence at that time was toxic for me, so I severed the bonds and moved away to start a new life with Scott.
Years passed. I healed and changed, they healed and changed.
One day, after having no contact with anyone in my family for over five years, I got a call from my sister, Betty. She had found me with a little detective work. I wasn't hiding, and the only changing of my identity I'd done was to take my new husband's name.
Betty was calling to tell me that our dad was dying. She said she sought me out because she felt I should know.
That is all it took for me to realize that things were different now. I no longer felt the need to be estranged from my family. I guess time does heal all wounds.
From his deathbed, Dad had reunited me with the family.
From that fateful phone call, contact with my family was reestablished. I have renewed, yet redefined relationships with my mom and siblings. It feels familiar, but new.
I am thankful for being reunited.
I watched it with the daycare children during quiet time this afternoon. It is one of my favorite movies in the G-Rated category. It is not necessarily a children's movie, but it has lots of kid appeal. It is a live action movie in which the animals are voiced by actors, and is primarily shot from the pets' perspectives.
In case you are unfamiliar with this movie, here's a very brief synopsis: It's the story of a family's pets who get lost and the struggles they endure - and lessons they learn - as they work together to return to their family, who desperately misses them.
The scene where the pets make their triumphant return is really stirring. It always touches me...softie that I am! It was sweet to watch the three and four year old who were watching with me get excited at the reunion of the pets with their family. I think they got it, at least on some level.
Reunions have deepened meaning for me ever since I have been reunited with my family.
There came a point, about fifteen years ago, when I simply needed to get away from their purview and figure out some issues on my own. Their influence at that time was toxic for me, so I severed the bonds and moved away to start a new life with Scott.Years passed. I healed and changed, they healed and changed.
One day, after having no contact with anyone in my family for over five years, I got a call from my sister, Betty. She had found me with a little detective work. I wasn't hiding, and the only changing of my identity I'd done was to take my new husband's name.
Betty was calling to tell me that our dad was dying. She said she sought me out because she felt I should know.
That is all it took for me to realize that things were different now. I no longer felt the need to be estranged from my family. I guess time does heal all wounds.
From his deathbed, Dad had reunited me with the family.
From that fateful phone call, contact with my family was reestablished. I have renewed, yet redefined relationships with my mom and siblings. It feels familiar, but new.
I am thankful for being reunited.
The tension between my mother, sister, and myself is always there because my mother "stirs the pot" or talks about each of us to the other. It makes life difficult for my sister and I, but we work on it. In fact, that's where we're headed for the holidays. sigh