Speaking of movie quotes… this is undeniably one of my top personal weaknesses. It has inspired true disappointment in the eyes of countless guy friends as they strategically insert the perfect movie quote into a conversation and I smile… but not with my eyes. They can’t believe me. How can I not know this? How can I not reenact this scene with them?
Must I remind you of the time my parents made me attend a Kenny G concert instead of the biggest party of the school year?
And yet, I know I’ve seen hundreds of movies. James was a movie maniac. A cinema connoisseur. A feature film fanatic. I’m pretty sure the very first movie we ever saw together was Inventing the Abbotts. He totally had a thing for Jennifer Connelly. Some of his faves were Blazing Saddles, Coming to America, Three Amigos, The Princess Bride, and A Christmas Story. His favorite Saturday evening was, hands down, dinner and a movie. In the theatre.
Over the years we saw so many movies. And I can’t quote any of them. I like to think I’m just completely present during the show– immersing myself in the story and just letting it wash over me. Plus I have enough to remember. Why would I devote valuable space to recording movie lines on the disk drive of my brain?
The last movie we saw in the theatre together was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in Kahului. We had an entire day to fill before our plane ride home from Maui. It was dark. And it was raining. Of course all the boys had already seen it. James cried during the post-credits scene, when we meet Black Panther’s son. Apologies but a spoiler alert was ruining the flow…
In late December, James waited to watch A Christmas Story Christmas with his sister, Erin. It wasn’t nearly as good as the first, but it felt exactly right.
A few weeks ago, Nate and I were talking and somehow I said the word “forever” as part of the conversation. And then was possessed to say “For-eh-ver. For-eh-ver.” Yeah it was weird. Me quoting a movie? What is happening…
I look to Nate and I’m like, “That’s from a movie, right? Daddy always said that. Where’s that from?” And he says, “It’s from the one with the big, scary dog. Where they play baseball.”
Totally. Sandlot. Dad’s so proud.