Movie tears

On monday we watched the movie "Nell" in Sociology class. Yesterday we watched the movie "Awakenings". In both those movies, I find myself tearing up. I feel the reservoir brimming on my eyelid. Then a new wave of emotion hits and gentle tears parade down my cheeks and nestle in my beard.

What moves me is the human spirit in it's most noble form. Courage, love, grief, loss, sacrifice. These themes grip me. 

One scene that moves me EVERY time I see "Awakenings" is when Leonard is regressing back to his catatonic state, he has tics that shudder through his body. He tells Paula, a woman he is in love with that he can't see her again. They are removing the drug which allows him to remain "conscious". He starts to walk away. Paula stands up, puts his one hand on her hip, and the other hand she holds as she slowly and deliberately starts dancing with him. As she performs this act of love for Leonard, he starts shaking less. I am so moved by that scene that I always have to wipe tears from my face. Click here to link to the video.   I yearn for the touch, the human contact that heals me. Many times that touch is infused with sorrow and loss. So I become teary-eyed, thinking about the loss in my own life.

Life is hard. I am moved by the compassion we show each other, whether it is on the screen or in real life.