Nostalgia

That's probably the best word to describe how I feel at the moment. After watching P.S. I Love You, I just couldn't get this song out of my head. It really resonated with me. I also really enjoyed the movie. Probably because I haven't read the book, yet.



***SPOILER WARNING***

P.S. I Love You is a chick flick based on a recently widowed woman, Holly. At the beginning of the movie, we see her and her husband have an argument. We also see their interaction, of how they are really in love. Very shortly after, we skip to her husband's funeral and find out that he has died of a brain tumor.

Throughout the movie, her husband (Gerard Butler) has left her letters and tasks to complete. For instance, she had to buy a nice outfit, and go Karaoke-ing with her friends. Another task was to take a vacation he booked for her and her friends. Each task would lead her closer to another letter. And he would always end off every letter with P.S. I Love You. Sometimes, we would be taken back in a flashback to the past and we see how the task links to parts of their relationship.

I know what you're thinking, chick flicks. They never work out like this in real life. True. I wish they did sometimes. But I wanted to share the last letter with you, because that was my favourite part of the movie. I love how it tied everything together. What a sweetheart :)

Dear Holly,

I don't have much time. I don't mean literally. I mean, you're out buying ice cream and I know you will be home soon.

But I have a feeling this is the last letter because there is only one thing left to tell you. It isn't to go down memory lane, or tell you to buy you a lamp. You can take care of yourself without any help from me.

It's to tell you how much you move me. How you changed me. You made me a man by loving me, Holly, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Literally.

If you can promise me anything, promise me that whenever you are sad, or unsure, or you lose complete faith, that you try to see yourself through me eyes.

Thank you for the honour of being my wife. I am a man with no regrets. How lucky am I? You made my life, Holly. But I am just one chapter in yours. There'll be more. I promise.

So here it comes. The big one. Don't be afraid to fall in love, again. Watch out for that signal, when life as you know it -- ends.

P.S. I will always love you.

In previous letters, we see how Holly and her late husband met. We also see how he fell in love with her. And we see how through their life together, she has changed. With stress from jobs, financial problems, we can see a comparison of the free-spirited, naive, passionate Holly to the Holly, present day.

With any major turn of event, whether it be losing a loved one, or taking a next step in life, or anything in between, I feel we all lose our footing on life sometimes. Just like Holly. Sometimes, we forget who we were (or are), and we become what we worry about.

Though it is much easier said than done, sometimes, we need to take a step back from our situation, and take a look around. See ourselves through another set of lens. And then, not being afraid to take the next step forward. Believe and trust that things will work out.

Like I said, much easier said than done. But I'm working on it.

In the meantime, after watching P.S. I Love You, I think I'm in love with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Gerard Butler. In that order. Maybe I need to go to Ireland. I like the accent :)

PS. Here is a clip of the ending. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving :)

I know that I probably posted this song before, but I'm not tired of it, yet. So here is the link again. I thought it was quite a fitting song to sum up some of my thought for Thanksgiving.

I think back to my childhood, and thought I'd share a few of my favourite small wonders.

1) Watching the leaves change colours

My dad used to take my family out for drives in the fall and we would drive down country sides or highways where we can just watch the array of colours of the leaves before us. I never thought much of it, but perhaps, it is a rare thing for a family to take the time out to do that. I still gasp and point out scenery as I drive down the DVP to this day. It still takes my breath away.

2) Christmas lights

Again, another family drive around the neighborhood (sometimes our neighborhood, sometimes not). My family is not very big on decorating with a lot of lights, but we would take drives and marvel at other peoples' creations. I think I want to bring it up this Christmas and go for a little drive. Only this time, my sisters and I will be about 15 years older than we were last time we did it. I'm sure we'll point and gasp just the same.

3) Watching airplanes

Back in the day, it was a big deal for a family member to go somewhere via airplane. My entire extended family would all gather at Pearson International to see them off. Even though my family didn't go anywhere. My favourite part about seeing other people off, was watching the airplanes afterwards. My family would go up to the old Terminal parking garage and watch the planes take off. One by one. It was beautiful watching the airplane take off against the lights of the city.

I think I even waved to them, thinking my relative would see me. Silly me.

To this day, I think it's amazing that a big piece of metal can fly. I know it can be explained by physics. I prefer to think it's magical.

4) Steamed birthday cakes

When we were little, we hardly ever bought birthday cakes because my family couldn't afford them. My mom would round up us kids, and together we would make the cake mix. Then we would watch my mom put it in the steamer. When the cake was done, my mom would let one of us (we would take turns) dip the end of a chop stick in red food colouring, and mark the middle of the cake with it.

5) Eating dinner together

I would take it for granted when we always ate dinner together through out my childhood and teenage years, until I went to university. I wouldn't understand how my parents would get upset if I was late for dinner. Now I miss it. It's so rare to have everyone home, and its always nice when we do. I would take having a simply meal at home, any day, over eating out.

6) Cooking fests

My sisters and cousins and I used to have "cooking fests" when we lived together. Basically, we go shopping the day of, and then buy all the ingredients for the week (or two). Then, we make our favourite dish (at the same time) in the kitchen and have a little potluck afterwards (and major clean up). They were always fun. I love how food brings people together!

There you have it. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Believing in "Magic"

One of my favourite places to be in the fall is on the Don Valley Parkway. I love driving down it, and just take in the array of colours. It's beautiful. The way each individual leaf is part of this tapestry of reds, browns, oranges and golds, is a little magical, is what I always thought of it as a kid. Of course, I've known for a while its due to the chlorophyll and cartenoids. But I still like to think of it as a little magic trick of mother nature.

I guess one of the things I'm realizing is that as we grow up, we gain more experiences. We (hopefully) become more wise, but at the same time, we have less new experiences, and sometimes, I feel that less things become special. Things that might have at one time, made us gasp in awe and surprise, might be merely met with a shrug now. It's like part of the "magic" is gone, and it scares me.

We stopped believing in Santa Claus. The fairy god mother. The tooth fairy. Which isn't that big of a deal. But when it comes to the issues that we all might face every day, would we be too cynical to believe in something that we want to happen but might be too shy to admit?

In a world where it seems that a risk factor or some sort of statistic can be calculated for almost everything -- from car insurance to divorce rates, from stocks to best sellers. Will people still believe in "magic?"

The magic in people. The magic of kindness. The magic of compassion. The magic in nature. The magic of love. The magic of forgiveness.

I hope that I may always take that leap -- no matter how difficult it is, and believe in the magic.