Today is a new thing for me in that the missus and I celebrated our second ever Christmas holiday without kids. The first time ever was before kids. This time was a first as an empty nester couple. I'd watched It's a Wonderful Life early in my twenties and enjoyed it, but there were parts that resonated with me and many that didnt due to lack of experiences. However, watching as a fifty year old hit very differently. I'll explain 🙄
There's a scene in the movie where the main character's (George Bailey) uncle loses all the money for the S&L company that was supposed to be deposited while an auditor is visiting. Realizing it's nowhere to be found, George goes home and is mad at the world, his wife and his kids. He loses it and starts destroying all his building drawings, and his home office. The wife and kids are baffled as this is behavior they'd never experienced from him. He later gets a visit from an angel and he asks the angel if its possible to be removed from life as he felt everyone else's life would be better without him. He realizes his own value as family and friends lives are completely different as a result of him no longer being born.
It got me into my feels...hard! The past year has been difficult for me and without going into a ton of detail, I had the feeling of 'destroying' my home office because of how hard things have been at home, with work, etc...i could empathize with George in that moment.
Later, in the altered reality, George is looking for his brother who is a WWII hero for saving a boat full of soldiers from a bomber plane. He realizes because he no longer exists in this altered reality, his brother doesn't exist because he dies due to a childhood accident in which George saves his brother. But in this altered reality, the brother doesn't exist therefore, the entire boat full of soldiers are killed by the bomber plane. He decides he wants to live and as a result George's life goes back to what it was previously.
I boo hoo cried watching this as it got me thinking about life if I didnt exist. My kids don't exist. My sister doesn't have a younger brother and lives life as an only child. My friends dont have a caring friend who would give the shirt off of his back to them. I've realized so many people would be without because of my generous nature and desire to support my peeps. What would happen 20 years ago when I saved my drowning niece if I wasnt there? This all weighed heavily on me and I just couldn't hold it in. It started with tears, and when I tried to explain it, it became full on snot bubbles.
What I love about the holidays is the magnitude of appreciation I feel for friends, partners and family. This movie will always be a reminder to appreciate the 'haves' and not worry about the 'have nots'.
If u haven't watched it recently, it's worth a watch. I hope u don't get snot bubbles like I did 😂
