Thursday, December 8, 2011

It's A Wonderful Life...and Ultrarunning

Image credit Wikipedia.

This brilliant Frank Capra movie, which my grown kids hate, was not always on my fav list either.  But over the years, as I've seen more stuff, experienced more things, and grown (I think) more wise, this 1946 film keeps calling me as being even more relevant than ever.

I ran across an article about the fate of Zuzu, Jimmy Stewart's and Donna Reed's youngest child in the movie, at the Washington Post.  The piece is entitled "For Zuzu of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ it wasn’t such a wonderful life afterward."

Karolyn Grimes played Zuzu, and never saw the movie until some 33 years later as an adult.  She certainly had seen hard times in her life, and commented:

Oh, it was fresh and dark, about as relevant today as it was when it was made,” said Grimes, quieting a moment. “Think of all the people out of work, losing their homes, hungry kids worried about their parents. What’s so different about today and 60 years ago?


Indeed.  But watch it this holiday season, by all means.

Oh, and the link to Ultrarunning?  Had George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) been a trail runner, I think he would have been able to cope better with life's adversities, even those crushing problems that caused him to come within a whisker of suicide in the film. 

At least that's been my experience.

My family is no different than most; like many others, we've experienced great joy but also have seen some serious stuff.  I will say here that were it not for my Ultrarunning, I am certain that I would have imploded (equal credit is due to loved ones, a cat, a support group, and my noontime running buddies).

 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment