Odd Life

          Took up a complete row at the theaters yesterday...to see The Odd Life of Timothy Green.  Tonio and I were skeptical, but, it was more about the experience and the company...Angie, her friend, Darlene, Andrea and Breanna, Janene, Bryson and Kason, Micah and Mariah (Kim and Roshan's kids), Autumn and Tonio.  Full row. 

          ...Kim would have loved this movie.  "It's a good story."  she'd have told me.  Kim would indulge me, watching any action movie that I wanted to see - especially with Jason Statham - like the Transporter series, Snatch - and Brad Pitt, also in Snatch and Inglorious Basterds.  But, from time to time, Kim would say 'Let's watch one tonight that is a story.'  She had to explain it to me more than once over the years....you see, she liked to watch movies, but only some of them were a good story.  'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' starring Johnny Depp and Leondardo Decaprio...good story.  "City of Angels' with Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage...good story.
          The Odd Life of Timothy Green would have fallen into her 'good story' category.
          It made me think of her right from the start.  From the way the main couple in the movie just wanted to be great parents and have the best for their child, to when the leaves began to change to full autumn foliage.  It reminded me of the walks we took on autumn days to enjoy the colors of the leaves, jumping in piles and loving the time of year so much that we vowed to name our daughter Autumn one day.
          But,the movie had some sad twists, too.  The couple's little boy comes to them in an odd way (thus the title) and leaves quickly and suddenly ( I can relate to that).  He tells them "We only have so much time..."

                                                               That is so true.

            And, no matter how you measure it, you always wish for more.
      
          When his parents realized that Timothy knew he'd have to go from their lives for some time, they asked him why he never told them...
         "I never told you because I knew that there was nothing you could do, no matter how hard you tried."
         Although the whole movie reminded me of Kim, this was the one line that brought me sudden clarity - I understood.  Kim knew,too.  She knew her time here was short, but she spared me.  She saw the horror I was fighting, how out of my mind I was trying to save her...and she knew that no matter how many injections I gave her, or knife wounds I cleaned and dressed, or medication that I timed, logged and gave her, or meals that I made, clothes changed, the times I washed her hair or gave her a bath...not even how much I cared or loved her...could save her.

        She knew this, understood it and excepted it stoically, without question and...
                       
                                                      ...with a smile.

         Afterwards, speaking of smiles, pizza at Mama's!  Kim, Roshan and Andrea's son, David, joined us all there.  Their 'Family' pie is ginormous!

         Shortly after we moved here, searching for a good slice and living in the Tanque Verde Apartments at the corner of Tanque Verde and Dos Hombres, one of our neighbors insisted that we love Mama's, cuz, the "owners are from New York.".  Solid credentials. 
        Sure enough, we found ourselves at the Mama's at 22nd and Kolb, pre-kids, enjoying their large slices, instantly making Mama's one of our favorites.  We frequented Mama's for special occasions - anniversaries, birthdays, Cody's 8th grade graduation, our first lunch together, with no kids, once Tonio hit kindergarten...Great memories.
         We put away a family pie, salads - Autumn had a huge plate of pasta, too!

           "We only have so much time..." 
                                                            Today, we enjoyed the time we did have...!