The Things That Keep Us Going

I went to see '127 Hours' this week with my mom and brothers - IT WAS AMAZING! The movie is the reconstructed story of Aron Ralston and his harrowing days stuck in a slot canyon. As most of you know, he ends up cutting his arm off, and the movie doesn't really dance around that. The cinematography is amazing, the soundtrack is cool, and James Franco does a really nice job of portraying (what I expect to be) a full-loving but slightly flawed main character. Almost the entire movie takes place in the canyon, with Aron's arm pinned between a 'Rock and a Hard Place' (the name of his book, if you haven't read it), but the director, Danny Boyle, (who also directed 'Slumdog Millionare') does an amazing job of keeping your attention riveted to the screen for what could have easily been a very boring 94 minutes.

At some point (SPOILER ALERT!) Aron hallucinates about the things that will make life worth fighting for, and he eventually sees the face of his son. (He has yet to even meet his future wife. It's all very hypothetical.) The little boy's visage gives him the strength he needs to do the inconceivable - cut of fhis own arm. It's awesome.

It did make me think, however, about how much we (and I'm talking WE, gals) will do to reach the end of our own battle. The very images in our mind of what our kids will look like, what they will say, and how much we will love them gives us all the strength to keep on keepin' on. To Aron, the very idea of having kids was worth putting a blunt instrument through his radius. For us, it's worth dozens of doctor's visits, months of despair, and hundreds of little white sticks that we pee on in the morning. (At least we don't have to drink urine like Aron. Ick.) In the end, like it was for Aron, it will all be worth it. It will. Someday.