Have you ever had a day that takes you through a variety of emotions, locations and settings? Maybe the days starts as anticipated and then by the time your head hits the pillow you think to yourself, “What the heck just happened?”
…..Recently we were traveling which meant an early flight to make a connecting flight. When boarding the plane I was already feeling tired and knowing it was going to be a somewhat long day, settled in to rest. Not able to sleep, I assessed the movies available for viewing on the back of the seat. With it being December, a seasonal movie grabbed my eye and attention, The Holiday, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black and Eli Wallach topped the cast. Having seen the movie several times before, it was a movie of comfort, one of those movies we watch because we already know how good it is, we enjoy the story, characters and settings. The movie finished as we were landing. As we were waiting our turn to vacate our row to get out into the aisle to deplane, some passengers from the back of the plane came forward, out of line. led by a woman of about age seventy or so. The flight had not been delayed there was no reason to (“what I felt”) rush to exit. I attempted to get out in front of her and her carry on and she shoved past. We have seen this on flights when the flight has been delayed and the fight attendant usually makes an announcement for those passengers who have plenty of time or those who are not making a connecting flight to wait while those pressed for time to exit so they can get to their gate. That’s fair and reasonable and we have been on both ends of that scenario. This was not that.
“You can wait your turn” I said very nicely. When she shoved past, I continued, “So, you must be more important than anyone else on the plane.”
Really, nothing should have been said on my end, and she should not have shoved to the front of the plane either. This was somewhat out of character for me. Usually I keep quiet and let people make a scene of themself, but her actions were so rude and inappropriate…
The movie poster from The Holiday, the house in the Cotswolds, England and in LA.
On the next flight, the pilot announced that this was his last flight before retirement. He was turning 65 and that is the end of a commercial pilot’s career. He said that his message for any young people on the plane was to discover what you enjoy doing and figure out how to get paid doing it. He went on to say that he had wanted to be a pilot since he was four years older. Prior to his thirty-five year career with Delta, he flew in the Navy. It was nice to see his family make the flight to celebrate. On that flight, I watched another Christmas movie, The Family Stone. A movie from several years ago starring Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Craig T. Nelson, Claire Dane and Diane Keaton. By the time we arrived at our destination, it felt as if it had been a full calendar day and emotional day as well, and it was only 2:30PM…
The movie poster from The Family Stone, the house and the kitchen.
After dinner as we were getting ready to call it a night after a long day of travel, we received several texts from family and friends about the firing of head football coach of the University of Michigan. It was not something that you would want to believe. From there, more information began to come out. None of it good and so sad for the innocent victims involved, players, those in the department and fans…
If you recall the movie The Holiday, two young career women in their thirties, one in London and one in LA experience a breakup with their respective beaus just before Christmas, so each decide to take a trip, doing an internet search and end up swapping homes for the Christmas holiday two weeks. Cameron Diaz’s character, Amanda, heads up her own movie trailer company while Kate Winslet’s character, Iris, is a columnist for a London paper. At the Christmas party, Iris finds out that her on and off again coworker boyfriend, Jasper, is engaged to someone else, while Amanda discovers that her live in boyfriend has been seeing his secretary because she (Amanda) works constantly. Each gal ends up finding a new romance during their time away. The travel holiday gave them time to reflect on the problems that led them to the point in life that prompted their breakup. At the time these movies came out, it was easy to identify with the characters’ problems being close in age to them. Fortunately, in one’s thirties, problems are more easily rectified, one can change their path, pivoting without too much damage or missing out on too much of life. You meet the wrong person, it’s easy to move on before a marriage or kids. Later down the path of life, of course changes can be made but there is more collateral damage involved, lesson learned from The Holiday …
About two years ago, someone recommended that I watch an older seasonal Christmas movie, The Family Stone. The movie tells the story of a family coming together for Christmas. Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson (remember him from the ABC hit show, COACH back in the early nineties?) portray the parents of the family. All of the five kids are grown and on their own. One daughter is married with a child and the oldest son’s, Everett, plans to introduce his girlfriend, Meredith, (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) whom he plans to propose to and will ask his mother for his grandmother’s wedding ring which she had promised him, in the past. the problem is that SJP is a high strung corporate gal and she makes everyone uncomfortable and has numerous cringe-worthy moments. From the onset of her visit she is not winning friends and influencing people. She insults most everyone and causes a very uncomfortable moment when she makes very inappropriate comments about a son when he and his partner talk about adopting. Mom, Diane Keaton comes back with a heartwarming comment to her son. In the background of the story is that Mom has an illness, that seems like a cancer that has returned and this will most likely be her last Christmas with her family. Despite the heaviness of this dark cloud, the family has all the regular situation that can happen to us all from disagreements, actual fights, a car crash, embarrassing knowledge about a family member being shared, stupid behavior from too much drinking and breakfast dishes being spilled (Amanda makes a Strada- breakfast dish- to be baked )in the morning on Christmas and as she is pulling the dishes out of the fridge to bake, she drops them making a mess all over the floor. This movie has it all and with Diane Keaton passing just a couple of months ago, the movie was even sadder. I found myself crying several times throughout the movie. Lessons learned in The Family Stone, life is short and a family sticks together…
For Sherrone Moore, former University of Michigan football coach, as of Wednesday and those in leadership roles, “To whom much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48). For as a husband and father, two honored and treasured roles, leading a wife and children and for one responsible for the wellbeing of other people’s sons and coworkers careers and means of supporting their families, you were held in high esteem. This does not exclude the woman he had the inappropriate relationship with, as every person is responsible for their own actions for sure, more should be expected from one in a coveted role as a major college head football coach…
So what to make of it all, the events and lessons of the day? Life happens. Holidays are special but they are not exempt from the stresses of daily life. From break-ups, like in The Holiday, poor behavior, like the lady on the airplane charging to get off the plane, family tensions like in The Family Stone or getting fired from a top level job like the University of Michigan football coach. The holidays are a time of fun and cheer, but they are not exempt from the harsh realities of life. It’s not just in the movies that people break-up, loose jobs, get sick or die during the month of December. Because of the attention and expectations of the holidays, life altering events can be magnified during December. Think of the families that experience a loss of a loved one during the month of December and how it stings for Christmases to come. Any death leaves pain for the family but there is just something about a death during the Christmas season that seems so harsh. Likewise, it’s a sad thought to know that this is the last Christmas one will experience. Very sad…
We all been there; been the young person learning sometimes the hard way, how to find the right person. We’ve been the boyfriend or girlfriend meeting the parents and family of the significant other or been the sibling or the person that has put their foot in our mouth. Maybe we are at an age, like the seasoned pilot, ready to retire, with wisdom from a career and life well lived. These roles are taken on as we go through life. We are so busy going through our days that we may not think much about them as we carry on through our lives, but they are the stages that that most people go through. We see these “roles’ in life and they are easy characters to create for romantic comedies or Christmas movies because we all can identify somewhere in them and be able to cry and/or laugh because we have been there in one way or another. The lady in the aisle on flight one is a good lesson that even if you are having a bad day, it is no reason to behave inappropriately or “think you are the most important person on the plane.”
For Sherrone Moore and those in leadership roles, “To whom much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48). For as a husband and father, two honored and treasured roles, leading a wife and children and for one responsible for the wellbeing of other people’s sons and coworkers careers and means of supporting their families, you were held in high esteem. This does not exclude the woman he had the inappropriate relationship with as every person is responsible for their own actions for sure, more should be expected from one in a coveted role as a major college head football coach…
We all can learn from the lessons life and the movies show us. People used to gather in the amphitheaters of ancient times to be entertained and informed. Similarly, during the times of Shakespeare, people, many of whom were unable to read, crowded into the Globe Theater to learn and to be entertained. Not only did the stories entertain people but they taught lessons, much like those Greek tragedies written and performed hundreds of years prior. Some can learn lessons from the wisdom of others and some have to learn the hard way. Regardless, the words ring true,
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits an entrances: And one man in his time, plays many parts.” -From William Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
if we are aware of what’s going on around us, we can be easily entertained and educated, if we only take note, no matter the time of year. The stories don’t change even though the people do (& days on the calendar)…Wishing you a Great Day ❤️
