Crying...over you!
Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 06:53:25 AM PDT
So, reading "The Giving Tree" post made me think of all the children's books that make me cry, and damn, if that isn't a fairly long list. Some of them have been tear-jerking favorites since I was a child, like "Charlotte's Web" or Matthew's death in "Anne of Green Gables." Some of the books I have only discovered or felt the impact of since becoming a parent, "Someday" by Alison McGhee springs to mind. I have only to "think" the words, "And when that day comes love, you will remember me..." and boom, waterworks.
Songs get to me too. "Puff the Magic Dragon" is like three-beers gone, sobbing at the jukebox sad. Ever since someone told me that the old Welsh lullabye "All Through the Night" is about a child dying of fever, yeah, can't listen to it all!
I have noticed that the impetus for crying has changed since I was a child. I obviously identified with the children/child figures in "Anne" and "Charlotte" when the saddest idea in the world was losing a parent. I also remember bursting into confused tears when Aslan in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", tells Peter "Well-done."
Now as a Mom I find myself seeing these old favorites in a new light. I put myself in loving Matthew's place, having a daughter as free-spirited and joyous as Anne herself. Or I find myself on Charlotte's side, ready to work/fight to the death to protect my children and my friends.
I also don't mind crying as much back then. When I was a kid, I was embarrassed by my sappy little heart, but now I relish it. So I am wondering, what are some favorites that send you reaching for a box of kleenex or a bottle of wine? I'd love some suggestion to add to Darling Girl and (the soon to arrive) Peanut's collections.
