for the past few days in class, our students have been watching the amazingly moving and touching film, life is beautiful. it is an incredibly eloquent cinematic masterpiece that speaks to the sadness of the holocaust, and yet so beautifully highlights and illustrates the love and devotion of a man for his family. in the end, somehow, his love wins. despite all odds, he never stops loving or laughing or painting this image of a beautiful life for his child.
in previous years, i have always focused on guido, the main character. he is charming and humorous and silly and so positive in the face of such cruelty. i have, at times, focused on dora, the wife, who is dedicated and silently strong, open and willing to fall in love and to follow love wherever it may take her. a woman who embraces a spontaneous and powerful love.
but since the girls have been born, and especially this year, i focus on joshua - the beautiful wide-eyed child who is shielded from some of the darkest acts in modern history. i have always noticed him and adored him and have loved him and cried for him... but this year, i focused on him. i watched his character's fear and excitement; i was attentive to the little inflections in his sweet voice. i heard the curiosity in his questions and the pure joy in his delightful laugh. i watched each expression and mannerism... so simple, so innocent, so beautiful.
it was all so familiar.
i realize that i have connected joshua to viy and cai. i see so much of them in his bright, round eyes and his young demeanor. his wittiness and his creativity - so much of what the girls have. and yes, i know that joshua is not a "real" child... he is a character, written for the film and portrayed perfectly by an actor. but isn't joshua a real child? isn't he a compilation of what we adore about all children? innocent. whimsical. trusting.
it is what i adore about my children.
though we may not face the extreme inhumanity of the holocaust in our daily lives, and though we are not living the experience of those witnesses and victims and survivors, we too are challenged to let our love for others and our gratefulness for life triumph.
in the midst of a fallen world, where injustice is common, prejudice is rampant, and violence has become a sick coping mechanism, we must somehow find the beauty in this existence.
i know that for my children, for my family, i will strive to make it clear that life is beautiful.
because it really is.
but since the girls have been born, and especially this year, i focus on joshua - the beautiful wide-eyed child who is shielded from some of the darkest acts in modern history. i have always noticed him and adored him and have loved him and cried for him... but this year, i focused on him. i watched his character's fear and excitement; i was attentive to the little inflections in his sweet voice. i heard the curiosity in his questions and the pure joy in his delightful laugh. i watched each expression and mannerism... so simple, so innocent, so beautiful. it was all so familiar.
i realize that i have connected joshua to viy and cai. i see so much of them in his bright, round eyes and his young demeanor. his wittiness and his creativity - so much of what the girls have. and yes, i know that joshua is not a "real" child... he is a character, written for the film and portrayed perfectly by an actor. but isn't joshua a real child? isn't he a compilation of what we adore about all children? innocent. whimsical. trusting.
it is what i adore about my children.
though we may not face the extreme inhumanity of the holocaust in our daily lives, and though we are not living the experience of those witnesses and victims and survivors, we too are challenged to let our love for others and our gratefulness for life triumph.
in the midst of a fallen world, where injustice is common, prejudice is rampant, and violence has become a sick coping mechanism, we must somehow find the beauty in this existence.
i know that for my children, for my family, i will strive to make it clear that life is beautiful.
because it really is.
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