Wonderful
It was Christmas 1989, and my then boyfriend, who would go on to become my future husband, gave me what would become our first shared Christmas ornament. It was a sepia toned photo, wrapped around a Christmas ball ornament, of Mary and George from It’s A Wonderful Life, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. This single ornament set the entire tone and intention for what would be our great love story—to love and be loved.
DAUGHTER: Mommy, why is It’s A Wonderful Life your favorite movie? It seems so depressing, and it makes you cry every year.
ME: I love it because I can relate to it, and it reminds me of what matters most.
DAUGHTER: How so?
ME: It’s a movie about someone who, in the pursuit of a lifelong dream that never comes true, learns the true value and purpose of life—to love and be loved.
DAUGHTER: But it’s so sad that his dream never comes true.
ME: It is sad. It’s also realistic. Many people have dreams that never come true, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a wonderful life. George Bailey’s dream was to travel the world. My dream was to be the love child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbra Streisand: a Nobel peace prize winning EGOT recipient (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) for spreading healing love, laughter, and understanding through the arts. (Nothing too big. 😂🤣) I still have that dream, but the dream that matters most is to stand like George Bailey facing a roomful of friends and family and know I lived my life’s purpose: to love and be loved. In the movie, when we hear Clarence the Angel say, “Remember, no one is a failure who has friends,” I collapse into a pool of gratitude tears. I’m so grateful for the love in my life, for all of my friends and family; for truly, that’s what I cherish most: the treasure of deep connections, the honor of truly loving others in meaningful ways.
It’s also important to remember that even though it’s sad to see someone have a dream that doesn’t come true, the movie ends before he does; maybe his dreams come true after all. I hold on to that hope when I hear him say, “I want to live again!” Every day of our lives is a chance to choose to live, to really live, to pursue our dreams and to nurture our most important relationships with ourselves and others. To have a friend, we have to be a friend; and the gift of being a friend can be even more rewarding than the gift of having a friend.
DAUGHTER: I’m so glad you’re not just my mommy, but you’re also my friend.
ME: I’m so grateful you’re not just my daughter, but also my friend too. I love you.
DAUGHTER: I love you, Mommy!
— © Sage Justice, Author 2022
If you enjoyed this piece, please check out my article, Honest Magic at Substack.
Sage Justice, author of “Sage Words FREEDOM Book One.” If you’d like to read more pieces like this, please check out the book on Amazon, monthly articles at SageJustice.Substack.com, videos on YouTube (Sage Words: Almost Everything You Need to Know), inspiration on IG @SageWords2027, website and the podcast: Sage Words (Apple & Spotify). A like and follow on the Sage Justice, author page, on facebook is greatly appreciated. Thank you.