Up

My wife and I took the kids to see “Up” yesterday.  My younger child is six, and he is at the point where he is almost ready to sit still for the duration of a movie.  “Up” is a wonderful summer children movie.  Only it isn’t a children’s movie at all.  Of course, all children would see a young and clumsy child befriending an older man for a beautiful adventure with a mechanical dog, an amazing and colorful big bird and a crazy explorer.  Using an actual house hooked up to what seems to be thousands of balloons, the unlikely couple goes to South America, following the tracks of the crazy explorer.  The superficial level is funny, refreshing, and sweet.  But there’s a lot more to it.  There’s another level, possibly more.

The story begins with two young children striving for adventure.  They marry later on in life, sadly unable to have children of their own, even sadder not being able to fulfill their dreams.  They are shown saving nickels and dimes in a large glass bottle.  The “adventure savings bank” keeps getting smashed for its content due to urgent needs: a broken car, a storm, an illness.  The wife dies, and the sour taste of broken dreams fills the screen and the heart.  It is then that I had some reflections, which caused my eyes to water.  My six years old boy saw it and asked if I was catching a cold, so I sneezed a couple of times and assure him that indeed, I was coming down with something…

My reflections were twosome.  One on myself, and the other on a close friend of mine.  As for me, my dreams were not broken.  In fact, I believe I went further than I ever thought I would, I have seen more places than I dreamed about, I met people more exotic than I could imagine, I read books and magazines way more exciting than I could ever hope for,  I experienced.  I have been blessed with a great family.  Wonderful parents, a sister and a brother.  Great children, great nieces and nephews.  You could say that my dreams were not extremely ambitious, and I might actually agree.  But they weren’t modest, and I believe I accomplished at least the realistic part of my dreams and aspirations.  Possibly more.  I am a happy man.

But my heart went out to a good friend of mine, whom I believe had very little expectations from life, but wasn’t even able to have those expectations realized.  She grew up expecting to marry some guy, and to serve him as is common in her community.  Like her mother and four sisters, she expected to have many children, work outside the home, cook, clean, wash, entertain guests, raise children.  She was expected to be happy with what she had, to not spend a lot of money, to save, to be modest.  She dreamed only to be treated nicely.  And she wasn’t.  In fact, she isn’t.  For twenty something years, she has been taken for granted, by her husband and children, day in day out.  Watching “Up”, I was thinking, if I had a big bundle of balloons, at least a metaphoric one, I would let her use it.  So at least one time in her life, she would be able to take off.

And to all I would say: for as long as you breathe, never stop dreaming, and never stop pursuing happiness.  (And never let anyone take you for granted).