cry it out

I never used to be a movie crier. I’ve become more emotional the past few years, maybe because I got married and have a deeper perspective on love and whatnot, or something. Up until then, though, the only movies I can remember crying in were Project X (the one with the chimps that flew airplanes! If the idea alone doesn’t make you upset, you’re not alive) and Black Beauty.

But ohhhhhhhh dear….Black Beauty. Kills me. KILLS ME every time.

And I don’t just mean I cry a little until the credits roll. I’m talking about an irrational - borderline volatile, even - reaction that makes me want to curl up with a pan of brownies and sob for weeks. Which is crazy! Black Beauty has a happy ending! (spoiler alert?) But, wow. It’s unbelievable what that movie does to me.

So one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made was watching Black Beauty with Jon when we were dating. I warned him ahead of time that I was prone to overly emotional reactions to it, but, really, there was no preparing him for what was to come. He was truly shocked. The credits were rolling and tears were still coming. The credits ended and I was sobbing. SOBBING. Finally Jon pinned me to the floor just observe. So at that point I was unable to move and laughing AND crying – an appalling display of the most extreme laugh-cry on earth. Fresh tears flowing down the sides of my face and pooling in my ears. And his face was four inches from mine, eyes wide, mouth open, head shaking slowly in astonishment.

Then, just when I got myself under control, he started with the reminders :

“Remember his poor broken knees?”

“Remember when Ginger couldn’t breathe?”

"Remember when the barn burned down?"

Aaand his personal favorite, which he still brings up at random six years later – always in the same melancholy tone:


“Remember when Black Beauty was pulling the cart up the muddy hill?”

:(