My Sister's Keeper

I went to see the movie

 version of Jodi Picoult's book My Sister's Keeper. I'm pretty sure everyone in the crammed theater cried at some point. 

Although I was initially emotionally stirred, it wasn't until Anna and Kate began calling each other "Sissy," that I cried. I cried because that hit home. My sister, who I envy in so many ways, and used to resent for so many reasons, was also the younger sister who I called "sissy" all through my childhood. She's the one I comforted at daycare when she fell and broke her arm. She's the one that learned to rollerblade first and taught me. She's the one who saw me off to prom on multiple occasions, only to find that I was away at college when it was her turn. She's vouched for me, encouraged me, stood up for me, and loved me in a way no one else on earth could. We've snuggled, and cried, and played, and yelled, and argued, and traveled, and danced, and dreamed. She's the one that I used to design "dream homes" with, dream homes that were big enough for our families (her with her "future husband" and "future only child" and me with my "future husband" and future "eight children.") She's the one who listened when I vented. She's the one who picked out pets' names with me, who held my hand on roller coasters, who sleeps in my room because there was a spider in hers sometime in the distant past. She's creative and talented and amazing in so many ways. Sure, my sister and I have our moments where we think we're polar opposites, but the truth is, I would do anything, anything at all, for her. 

It's a heartwrenching movie about death, life, love and the bonds that hold us together. But I can relate on so many levels to Kate and Anna, from understanding the dynamics of sisterhood within the family unit, to wanting to give my sister everything so she could have the best possible life; to understanding that doing so to my detriment did neither of us any good; to wanting to give her the world; to knowing that I couldn't; to knowing that wherever we went in life, whatever came between us, we have always been and will always be remarkably close. And nothing could make me stop loving her, ever. 

Go see the movie. Really. But bring tissues. 

Fishing

Matt took me fishing this morning. This is the latest in our outings together. We've seen movies (in fact, we made an entire list of movies we want to see this summer and fall), gone to the zoo, hung out at the pool, played countless video and board games, had a cookout with friends and one with his extended family. But today, we went fishing. 

I fished some when I was little, but I was ill-prepared for today. I was all gutsy when we got to the bait shop to buy the bait, and acted like the knowledgeable girlfriend when Matt and I conversed about what type of bait to buy. And when we got to the lake, I hauled the tackle box and the pole (he carried the chairs) down to the dock. It was going well so far. 

And then he opened the container of worms-- two kinds of worms: earth worms (really, really long ones) and glow worms (no, not the toy you had when you were growing up!). I instantly became the squeamish girlfriend and backed away, telling him he could have the honor of putting the bait on my hook. He readily agreed, chuckling a little bit. And whenever I needed new bait, I would carry the container over to him, hand him my pole and offer my sweetest smile. It worked. Haha. 

We didn't catch a thing, but we had a wonderful time. It was sunny, albeit a little too warm and we got to see some heron and lots of turtles, as well as a lot of geese and ducks. 

Anyway, all of this was to say that today was a perfect example of our relationship. Matt doesn't  love me because I have a stomach of steel and can put up with gross things. He also doesn't love me because I'm the perfect girlfriend or a complete girly-girl. Nope, he loves me because I'm me. And I am really enjoying the freedom of not having to become someone else to please him. It's very freeing and it allows me to love him better, because I'm not doing it out of compulsion or fear, but because I just do. 

Update

I'll let the pictures be the update...