A Day In the "Olden Days"

Yesterday was positively blissful for me. Chad was working on finishing up some projects for his summer classes and I had the day to myself...the WHOLE. FREAKING. DAY. The house was relatively clean and the temperature outside was too dang hot to do anything outdoorsy (plus we spent all day Saturday at my MIL's pool), so on the way back from getting a coffee, I decided to spend the day on the couch, watching a movie - and not just any old movie...the sequel to Anne of Green Gables. All 4 hours of it. And the sequel to THAT, which is really not as good, but I feel like I'm not a "kindred spirit" unless I say that I like the movie that is supposedly the "continuation" of Anne's story, but really feels like Anne, Diana, and Gilbert are just trying to revitalize their careers and wind up looking super old in the process. Megan Follows (Anne for all you non-fans) also seems to have some sort of acne going on...maybe she is working on being the next Pro-Active spokeswoman? I digress.

Anne of Green Gables & Anne of Avonlea were the cornerstones of my childhood. For whatever reason, my mema, having a sixth sense of what her only granddaughter would love, purchased them sometime in the late '80's and I literally watched them to death, over and over, until I had the lines memorized and had developed a serious crush on Gilbert Blythe. I also wanted to dye my hair red and change the spelling of my middle name from A-n-n to A-n-n-e. My mom said no.

I related so much to Anne. Like her, I was too smart alecky and had a quick temper. I also tended to be somewhat clumsy, a little too quick to act, and was a romantic to the core, even at such a young age. I, too, wanted to be a writer so much I couldn't stand it. Needless to say, Anne's story became my own...I would watch certain scenes and then go outside and pick blackberries, wishing I lived on Prince Edward Island and had my own Gilbert.

Watching her story now, I realize that my take on the whole Anne saga has changed a little...maybe because I understand that what was a story about a little orphan girl is really the saga of a young woman bucking traditions to make her own way, touching lives and finding herself in the process.

I still repeated movie lines, much to Chad's amusement. Thankfully, he puts up with my romantic notions and the fact that I love made for TV dramas from 80's. Bless his heart. Even though he would never admit it, I think he secretly likes the Anne movies.

I guess I found my Gilbert after all.