This weekend we had both Russ and Benjamin back with us. It was as if the empty nest was almost re-filled for a brief period. Benjamin came in from college for the weekend. Russ' home is having the floors re-done from hurricane damage so the smell is so strong from polyurethane, he can't stay there. After a full day of knocking things off the to-do list outside in the garden and yard, we decided to do what we had done when the kids were much younger - we'd have a family movie night!
In this case, we let Benjamin choose the movie. He chose an old favorite from when the kids were very young - My Dog Skip.
We had this movie on VCR back in the day and watched it many, many times. Tricia got the VCR going and the very first thing we had to do was REWIND THE TAPE! We joked about paying a $1 rewind fee. As we waited, the VCR made a loud noise at the end as the tape tightened and then it stopped. It was ready to go.
We put the VCR tape in and watched the FBI warning and numerous previews of movies COMING OUT SOON in 2001. Finally, the movie started. The first thing we noticed is how "grainy" the video was. It wasn't as clear and sharp as a DVD. As the movie started, Tricia stated, "Whew, I'm already getting sad just listening to the music." And she is right! This is a very emotional movie.
My Dog Skip (spoiler alert), is a favorite of ours, but it is a sad, dog story - similar to an "Ol Yeller" or "Where the Red Fern Grows." It is a true story about Willie Morris, a nine year old boy growing up in Yazoo, Mississippi. Willie is awkward and shy and needs a friend. His mom decides that he needs a puppy. The Dad objects, saying "a dog is a heartbreak waiting to happen." And he's right, but the Mom gets Willie a puppy named Skip and good things happen.
However, Skip helps Willie make friends and adventures in his childhood that Willie would relish for years to come. Willie (as an adult) narrates looking back and states:
Narrator: I almost lost old Skip that day. Even as he was sleeping on the operating table, he was still teaching me. That day, I became a young man. Why in childhood and youth we wish time to pass so quickly - we want to grow up so fast, yet as adults we wish just the opposite?
Isn't that the truth? I think of that sentiment a lot. Allan Jackson sings a song about that called 'Time marches on'
Narrator: I was an only child, Skip was an only dog.
Willie and Skip navigated through life on the Mississippi Delta and were good for each other - best buds.
Narrator: There were so many surprises that year. Who'd have thought that my Daddy would ever let me play football? And who'd have dreamed that Rivers Applewhite, the prettiest girl in town would let me hold her hand? It was indeed a strange and unusual time. Old Skip had helped me through the struggles of boyhood. But his job was far from done.
A boy and his dog - an all-American story.
Narrator: In my life, I find that memories of the spirit linger and sweeten long after memories of the brain had faded.
I concur. Memories about childhood and adventures growing up seem so real and vivid and will hit you right out of the blue sometimes.
SPOILER ALERT!
Willie grew up and moved off to college - to Oxford, England from Yazoo, Mississippi. While he was gone...
Narrator: Old Skip was eleven, and feeble with arthritis, but he never lost that old devilish look in his eye. He made my room his own. Came across an old photo of him, not long ago. His little face, with the long snout sniffin' at somethin' in the air. His tail was straight out, pointin'. Eyes were flashin' in some momentary excitement. He always loved to be rubbed on the back of his neck. And when I did it, he'd yawn and he's stretch, reach out to me with his paws, as if he was tryin' to embrace me. I received a transatlantic call one day. 'Skip died,' my Daddy said. He and my mama wrapped him in my baseball jacket. 'They buried him out under our elm tree,' they said. That wasn't totally true. For he really lay buried in my heart.
As we watched last night and the movie finished up and I lay in the dark on the couch, "My Dog Skip" really got to me. We all lay there in the silence as the credits rolled. Although I can't exactly put my finger on it, the innocence of youth, memories of growing up, memories of my kids' childhood and the laments of the passage of time and changes cumulatively overtook me in surprising fashion. I couldn't believe it, but I felt big old tears coursing down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them off on the blanket I had. Darn allergies. All that dust and pollen in the air must be getting to me...
I highly recommend "My Dog Skip" for your next family movie night. Just be warned - that movie will get ya!
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