Waiting, crying, loving

I recently read The Time Traveler's Wife and watched The Notebook and I realize there are strong themes that both of them share.  These themes particularly draw me in and speak to me.  They are the themes of waiting and of unyielding love, fierce and constant.  In The Time Traveler's Wife, Clare, wife of time-traveling Henry, endures her husband's erratic absences for minutes, hours, sometimes days.  She is constantly waiting for the next time she will be reunited with her love.  Sometimes she has to wait many lonely years.  Yet she never falters in her love for him.  In The Notebook, Allie does not receive the daily letters Noah writes her after she goes off to college.  Without knowing this, he continues writing for a year, every day, 365 letters.  Despite not hearing from her, he sets out to build the dream house she described to him that memorable summer they spent together, when they fell in love.  Against all odds, he waits for her, and his love for her does not fade over time.  A series of events ultimately reunites them, but their fairy tale story dissolves when Allie's Alzheimer's disease advances such that she forgets who her love is.  Heart-wrenching scenes show Noah patiently reading the story of their lives together, dancing, eating, and other activities to take care of Allie and help her remember.  There is a beautiful scene when she does remember him, but then the disease returns as swiftly as it paused and Allie becomes terrified of this "stranger" near her.  Saddened but loyal, Noah stays with his love, waiting for her to remember again and reunite their forgotten love.

I can identify with these themes, as someone who has waited a long time for the right person to come into my life.  On a much smaller scale, my love is out of town all week for work and so you could say that I am presently waiting as well.  Until I find more work, I will be waiting for him to come home from his job each evening.  Waiting, waiting, and loving intensely, fervently, passionately.  This week, Matt and I celebrate our first six months together.  I am very happy.  It is relevant now to mention also that once during The Time Traveler's Wife as well as The Notebook, I cried.  In fact, Matt came home while I was reading the novel and there I was, sprawled across the bed with the book, hot tears streaming down my face.  Of course, the only balm I needed was a few minutes cuddled up to him.  During one of the scenes from The Notebook that I described, I was also affected by it.  Both situations brought my thoughts back to my own love, causing the scenes to be made more poignant by the intensity of my own relationship.  I am reflective about this because aside from one movie (Imagine: John Lennon), I have never cried during movies or novels.  It is as though any remaining protective walls have fallen away and my emotions have been further unlocked.  I believe the relationship that Matt and I have has freed me of barriers and given way to intense feelings that could only have been borne out of absolute trust, love, loyalty, and comfort.  It is incredibly liberating and satisfying.  I am simultaneously at peace with my life as well as awed and excited by it.  Sometimes I stare at Matt or across a room in our house together in wonderment.  I simply cannot believe my luck in these instances.  And yet, here I am.