Strength, Heart and Wits...

Rich and I started watching movie marathons at the beginning of our COVID quarantining. It is our little “date night”. We sit together on the couch and *try* to unplug from our phones, to just hang out and watch a movie together. It is a special time where we both feel happy and at peace. We get the kids into bed, wrap up our chores and get comfy on our big couch. Our dog Maple occasionally joins in too, but she is a bit of a scaredy-pup so she runs off to find another place to sleep when there is too much action on the television!

These days, our couch is a very busy and special place. We have hours and hours of book reading and some TV time, watching things like Bluey and Daniel Tiger with the kids. Loads of games are played here on the couch, such as bear and sword fights, dump truck games- complete with pillow "blocks" and some beginner board games. There is a lot of jumping, crashing, cuddling and many snacks to be had! It is a safe and comfortable place for all of us. It brings me so much joy to see all the activities here. Again, finding joy in small things, like a comfy couch! Every Saturday, we have our family movie "night".  I place night in quotes, as we start the movie around 3pm with the kids. We are making our way through a few toddler safe movies, but favorites so far have been Brave, Moana, Cars, Frozen and of course my favorite, Disney's Robin Hood. Our son may or may not run around with swords yelling "death to tyrants!!" from Robin Hood...

Rich and I kicked off our own, much more calm, movie marathons with the Harry Potter films, followed by ALL 23 Marvel Universe movies in chronological order. We took a bit of a break after that marathon, because wooooof that was A LOT of movies! I would say we finished in record time, it took us less than 30 days to get through all of them, from Captain America: The First Avenger to Spider-Man: Far From Home. We started back up, with maybe the best one yet, Lord of the Rings—extended edition. We got going during nap time on Wednesday, September 2nd as we were still on our lovely staycation since coming home from our trip to the Cape. We got through about half of Disc One before the kids were calling for some couch fun, but we resumed right after bedtime! 

I hear many of the character’s lines differently now. I knew Gandalf was a wise wizard (or really, J.R.R Tolkien), but it wasn’t until now that when I heard his words, I welled up. Gandalf and Frodo were sitting on the rocks in the Mines of Moria. This was early in Frodo’s journey with the ring.  They sat discussing how Frodo wished that the fate of the ring never fell to him.

At times, I feel the same way. Why us? Why Rich?

Gandalf says to Frodo “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” This brought up a lot of feelings for me. Also, the fact that our bridal party walked down the aisle to the song “Concerning Hobbits”, did not help my emotions for the evening. To top it all off, my sister Lauren and best friend Erin, Matron and Maid of Honor in our wedding, quoted Gandalf in their wedding speech! The pieces and memories collided all at once and I did all I could to not become a puddle on the couch. 

I know we have been chosen for this path, by whatever is out there that decides such things. I do my best each day to use my “strength, heart and wits”- as Gandalf tells Frodo to do, and as my maid and matron of honor said in their speech. I could sit here and quote this movie all day, but I will close with this, said also by Gandalf. “I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil”. Our tears do not represent weakness or despair. Our tears help us continue and regain our strength, heart and wits. 

We finished the movies off on 9/5, what should we watch next!? We are leaning toward Star Wars.

Living one day at a time,

Leah

P.S. Thank you to my best friend Erin for editing my posts and giving me the best tips <3