Heartbreak and Love

Colin suffered his first heartbreak last night. Sure, he's been devastated over being denied candy and upset by a broken toy and such, but last night, it was real.

We were waiting for Patrick to get home from work and, after playing outside for awhile, we came in and put on a short movie to calm down before dinner. It was an animation of several classic children's books with famous narrators. We watched Harry the Dirty Dog and Officer Buckle and Gloria, among others. But the one - THE ONE - was the story of Angus Lost, a live action version of the classic book.

Angus is a little Scottie dog who leaves the safety of his yard to seek adventure and, in the process, gets lost. He spends a stormy night in a forest far away from his house and the camera zooms in on his sad, lonely face, resting on a cold rock in the rainy forest night.

"He looks sad, don't you think, Colin?"

We were sitting on the couch, Colin with his MaiMai and thumb in his mouth. He was quiet for a moment, then turned to look at me. His bottom lip was frowned and puckered out, his eyes were huge and brimming with tears.

"Mommy, SO SAD!"

And he dissolved in sobs as he climbed onto my lap. He clung to my neck and cried a big wet spot onto the shoulder of my shirt. I kissed his head and rubbed his back, kicking myself for picking this stupid movie.

We watched the last ten or so minutes of the movie, wherein (SPOILER!) Angus finds his way home to his happy, loving family. Colin cried through the whole thing, and for at least fifteen minutes afterward, saying "That doggie was SO SAD, Mommy. SO SAAAAAAAD!" before losing himself to the tragedy all over again. Even after repeated explanations that the doggie made it home and is happy now and see? everything is good! he snuffled and clung to my leg until dinner was ready and he forgot about Angus the lost dog.

The whole time, I kept thinking I can't even imagine how many times my mother must've gone through this with me. She even took me to see Benji movies as a kid, and let me watch Bambi, knowing what she'd have to deal with. It is a miracle she can still talk to me after all that. 


While the individual days are nice, I think Mother's and Father's Day should simply serve as a reminder that everyone has needed and received comfort and love, however irrational or undeserved. We should be ever grateful for that and be inspired to pass it on. From our own children to our friends' children to our friends themselves, our parents, our neighbors, each other, ourselves. Love, love, love freely.