To love another person...

Several weeks ago I saw the teaser for the new Les Miserables movie that is coming out at the end of this year. I watched it at least seven times and by the end had tears streaming down my cheek. The next day I was talking to Tom about the movie. He has never seen the play or read the book (which is really a shame, both are incredible). I eagerly started telling him the basic plot line, describing characters, and explaining why I love it so much.

You see, Tom is not one of those people who generally enjoys "emotional" movies. It's not that he doesn't have a heart. When we watched the movie Up he cried for a good 2 - 3 hours afterward. He kept saying, "Don't die on me, okay?" (He's going to love that I wrote this.) He gets really involved emotionally with what he watches, and prefers to keep his "tough guy" exterior on. (Because, you know, he's such a tough guy. Ha!)

As I described the general premise of the story of Les Mis, I found myself choosing my words carefully because I knew this would be a hard sell. I wanted to see the movie with Tom, but how do I convince him to watch a couple hours of a show that's called "The Miserables"? I mean, when you think about the story it really is a lot of sadness, heartbreak, and misery. In fact, every time I told him another part of the story or had him listen to "just one more" song from the musical, I found myself getting choked up with emotions. Why do I love this stuff so much?

Ultimately, I think it's because it's a lot like life. Life can be hard. Really, hard. Life can be unfair. Life can feel like we got the short end of the stick and there's nothing we can do about it because often there isn't anything we can do about it. But the story ultimately isn't about the misery... it's about the character that drives us to do good. It's about love, sacrifice, and pushing forward for a better cause. It's about understanding who we really are, what we are really capable of, and why it's all worth it.