a girl in her element

I finally watched Marley and Me last night.  I know, I know, a little late to the party… or rather a sob fest, complete with boxes of Kleenex and mascara rolling down my face.

I should have known that I would cry enough to fill a small pool when everyone told me they cried during the movie.  Not just girlfriends who are cry babies like me, but I heard the same thing from boys.  And when I say boys,  I mean teenage boys who are “too cool” to exhibit emotion, grown men who are too macho to shed a tear, adult males who typically only cry when their football team loses…  even the “my neck is thicker than your thigh” bodybuilder at the gym who never even smiles.  I, on the other hand, cry at movies that no one else even tears up during.  Not only that, I sob at the same movies, the ones I’ve watched a million times and know the endings too.  I have The Lion King memorized, yet I cry every time Mufasa dies.  I’ve watched Titanic an embarrassing number of times, but I still weep when Jack let’s go.  I know the ending of A Walk to Remember, but it doesn’t stop the waterfall from flowing.

As always, I read the book before I watched the movie, and I don’t recall soaking the pages with tears.  In fact, I’m positive I didn’t because I just checked my copy of the book, and there doesn’t appear to be any water damage to the pages.  Hey, you never know with me.   The movie kept compelling me to think about Kritter and Thomas (of course, it didn’t help slow down the tears when Kritter sat on the floor with her head slightly tilted and a look of concern while her momma cried).  I should have prefaced this blog by saying that the only other pets I’ve had are a goldfish I won at a school carnival named Skittles and a handful of hamsters. When my goldfish died, my mother bluntly told me I should never have pets because I can’t handle it when they die (she’s probably right though).

I won Skittles at a school carnival.  I was in middle school and had absolutely no experience with any sort of animal, unless playing with rolly-pollies and worms in the backyard counted.   Skittles lived a long two years, in a small, clear plastic container that once held tea leaves.  Once a week, I would transfer him into a plastic cup, change his water and plop him back into his “bowl.”  I fed him once a day and watched him swim in circles for two years in a container smaller than most of the mixing bowls in my kitchen.  Then one night right before we were getting ready to leave for vacation, I noticed Skittles swimming upside down.  Again, only having experience with worms that can lose a head or tail, sometimes both, and still keep on going on their merry way, I had no idea what was going on.  The next morning as we were getting ready to leave, I noticed he was no longer moving.  It broke my heart.  I cried and cried that first whole day of vacation… all because of a goldfish.

Combine the feelings evoked from Marley and Me with the remembered sadness over losing Skittles and I was beyond sad and fearful thinking about losing Kritter and Thomas.  But for now, I don’t want to think about that.  I simply want to enjoy my critters.  Have fun playing with them, feel happy when I feed them, smile when they curl up with me and even find joy when they destroy something or tear up the house.

From now on though, I will remember to keep a box of Kleenex next to the DVD player and always wear waterproof mascara to the movies.

Element Girl wants to know…

Do you cry easily during movies?

What’s the most tear-jerking movie you’ve watched?  (So I make sure I don’t watch it…)