"Laughing and crying, you know, they're the same release"

That title is a line from a song by Joni Mitchell and it is so true! There is a thin line, sometimes, between happy and less than happy. Today was such a day! After waking and watching the news, I switched over to movie viewing when I saw that "Mr. Holland's Opus" was on. I have a love/hate for this movie, it moves me every time I see it. Mr. Holland seems so self-pitying and just plain selfish toward his family but is giving to his students, it angers me. As he ages, you can see where he begins to change his focus, or widen it. Robbie, The Maestro, is 'inspired' by this movie so I sent him a note letting him know I was thinking of him.

After that movie came "Jersey Girl" which I thought might be like a gangster-type flick, but it was quite the opposite. A young couple, both in high-powered jobs in New York City, fall in love and get married. They are excited about having a baby but the husband has troubles pulling back from his work to become a family man. During childbirth, the mom, whose name is Gertrude, suffers an aneurysm and dies, leaving the grieving husband to care for the infant. I was just boo-hooing all morning long. The story goes on how the successful man's very working class father takes care of the baby its first month of life until the daddy is 'forced' to do it himself, when they all moved in together in New Jersey. Hence, Jersey Girl. The dad, played by Ben Affleck, gets advice from Will Smith, whom Ben had dissed during an interview and lost his job. Will, not knowing this was the publicist that had said such terrible things about him, told Ben in a waiting area, that he would rather be home, playing in the dirt with his kids than waiting to see a publicist. That did it! Ben's character made it back home to New Jersey to be in a play with his daughter. Formulaic, but a very nice happy/sad movie. Oh, the little girl's name is Gertie, after her mother. What a handle!

It was just a good crying day although the weather was sunny and bright. As Judy J. said today, for older folks, "It's all about the Weather Channel and the mail." I told her, "Just wait 'til you throw the obituaries into the mix!" and she said she wasn't there yet. I told her that was a good thing!!!! But both said today in separate conversation streams, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" But back to that in a second....

A third movie came on, "Must Love Dogs" which is about a recently divorced woman, played by lovely Diane Lane, being thrown out to date again by her family. The joke is basically about Internet dating sites and at one point, when answering someone's ad, ends up meeting her father for a date! He was a widower, played by Christopher Plummer, and lied about his age and interests. It was ironic that in this close-knit family that she would choose a date with her own dad. She knew this would be fodder for their Thanksgiving get-togethers for many years to come! The heroine's character was reluctant to date again but her sister was relentless. The other love interest, a man, played by John Cusack, is being pushed by his buddy to get back out there. Again formulaic, they meet and fall in love, after many mishaps and stumblings' about. I had seen this movie years ago in the theater with my friend, Jen, and we, at that time, had as much fun laughing at the 'older' woman who were having wwaayy more fun than we were, laughing about the movie. It must have hit a nerve with them or something, but they were whooping it up!

Before that movie ended (good thing I knew what happens!) I had to get myself ready for attending Jayne's birthday party. At Great Hang Ups, I had gotten Jayne a hand-painted silk scarf made by my friend, Sonja. She offers classes in making them but I do not want to add another hobby to my house at this time. Anyway, Jayne was sufficiently surprised, had a separate party on her actual day and thought she got away without much notice. Not so much! Her husband's sons plus Jayne's son worked with Granny and Fausto in putting the party together while Dave and Jayne went thrift store shopping, her favorite thing to do. Julaine had invited many many folks but only a few of us came, or even RSVP'd. It is Spring Break so many folks are away enjoying the time off. Those of us who did come had a wonderful time and I was glad to be included!

It was good to see Judy again, after her month of being away. We had much to talk about but she is still quite emotional talking about her brother and such. Judy and I are going to get together this week sometime over dinner and hash it all over. So we talked about current events instead which can evoke the same type of sentiments!! All in all, it was a wonderful mix of emotions, and Julaine made my day by telling me, when I thanked her for inviting me, "It wouldn't be a party without you!" The icing on the cake of the tearful day!