Following a ten day trip and a couple of weeks’ writing non-stop on a work project, I find myself at the end of January without a post since New Year’s Day. Better take a long look at my priorities….
This week we discovered that we had access to Disney+ streaming services as part of our phone plan (I find it quite difficult keeping up with all that goes on in the multimedia sphere); we gave it a test run by watching the subject movie last night, and it touched that memory nerve again.
I remember my brother Doug telling me when he and his wife were living in Portland, Oregon that they watched filming of the high school principal retirement scene. For personal context, the movie came out a little more than 20 years after graduating from high school, and since then I’ve added almost another 30 years of life, so that brought a different perspective when watching it this time.
Watch it again.
It blends in so many of life’s perspectives, even if you don’t spend most of your adult life in a predominantly white suburban setting. Historical moments are highlighted (not as much as Forrest Gump) and how they can touch lives locally, married life, raising children, friendships, helping others, dealing with unexpected successes and setbacks, learning while teaching, living through how busy life can be and then all of a sudden you’re at the end of your work life. You’re asking yourself “What’s next?” and “Have I made a difference in this world?”
What do you do when you tell someone you gave it your best effort, and they tell you it just wasn’t good enough?
Kind of brings you back to another movie: It’s a Wonderful Life.
I appreciated the movie so much more this time around.