As best I can remember the first book I ever read which made me weep when I came to the end of it was "Beautiful Joe" by Margaret Marshall Saunders. Of course, being an autobiography of a dog rescued from cruelty, I had to be careful to keep the pages from being tear-stained throughout; so it isn't surprising that 'the end' brought forth a torrent.
There are always some things that get me teared-up. Just can't help it! Perhaps it is tied to the anticipation of knowing that upon first seeing the scene in a movie or reading it in a book that crying is as sure to come as taking my next breath -- and just as automatic.
A short list must be stated -- if just for the record:
-- "How Green Was My Valley" -- having seen it 15-20 times since I was a teenager there's nothing more likely to force me to get out the hanky than seeing Donald Crisp walking the hilltop with his boy, Huw, played by Roddy McDowell.
-- The Dolly Parton song "Coat of Many Colors" which reminds me of grace and forgiveness and the wealth of love springing from poverty, and my mother, here take a listen but be forewarned, have a Kleenex or a dry sleeve nearby, unless you be among the hard-hearted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr4GT4ltvBk&feature=related
-- It never fails that the last scene in "You've Got Mail" gets me! Who can avoid choking up when you hear Tom Hanks calling "Barkley!" you know that's the voice Meg Ryan is waiting to hear... the Shopgirl gets her wish and so do we.
-- one of the essential Christmas movies -- "Miracle on 34th Street" -- the original of course with Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood -- and the scene of the little Dutch girl who has come to Macy's because she knows Sinterklaas will be there ... and indeed he is! When the little girl, orphaned during the war, steps forward her American adoptive mother apologizes because she doesn't speak anything but Dutch, but Kris Kringle, being the real Sinterklaas breaks into language this delighted little girl recognizes as her own. When she is asked what she wants for Christmas, little do we know that when she responds in Dutch (untranslated for us) she is telling Sinterklaas that she wants nothing because she already has the gotten her gift, being adopted by a new mother. That little tidbit comes from IMDB -- the best source for movie info on the web and it gives me another reason to shed a tear or two because not only does Kris give her the gift of welcoming her and singing with her a folktune in her language, she offers back to Kris her thankfulness at being given a new home.
Okay ... I must pause as my box of Kleenex is empty. Not just from recounting these points of warm-hearted, gracious causes for weeping, but because I wish to share with you a book title and recommendation. It is the moving and beautifully written book by Leif Enger, entitled "Peace Like a River". I purchased it at a marvelous price when visiting Stacy and Jon in Seattle over Thanksgiving and shopping at The Elliott Bay Book Company. Published in 2001 it was just lying there staring up at me. Of course I was grabbed by the title, which is the first line of the great, great hymn by Horatio Spafford from "It is Well With My Soul". I picked it up and glanced at it then replaced it on the stack. I thought I was done with it ... but alas ... it was not done with me! After circling around those book tables like a rapacious raven looking for some sustenance, I grabbed it for good. And now it is spiritual food... how glad I am that it caught my eye again! I started it shortly after getting home from Seattle and have attended to a few chapters each day. My copy will soon find its way to Seattle to get the Stacy-once-over as I promised after I read it. It will find good company there. And she bought Enger's 2008 book "So Brave, Young and Handsome".
There is much to find achingly moving in "Peace Like a River". The writing is lively, creative, full of characters that live in your heart. A book you can't wait to devour but like a great meal you hate to arrive at 'the end'. Being home sick today I figured a good dose of something warm to drink, a cozy quilt and a good read would, like a hefty pillow, fluff up my spirits. I was not disappointed. I wept as I closed the book. I can give no greater testimony than that ... and so I commend it to your reading ... and in keeping with the theme, the title of the book and that of this blog ... here is a great version of a marvelous hymn (which if you learn the story of its creation -- will bring you in deep resonance with the weight behind the words) -- "It Is Well with My Soul" ... this is a nice version from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPPSG_SpojY&feature=related
