Ngudu / Sarit

Has anyone seen the movie "About Schmidt"?

I LOVE that movie. It's easily a 10/10.

I recently watched it again at the cottage with a few people this summer. Once again, at the end, I bawled.

If you haven't seen it, and don't plan on it....

[SPOILER]

Jack Nicholson thinks that his life doesn't serve a purpose. His wife dies, he retires, his daughter gets married and doesn't want him around, and he's wandering aimlessly for most of the movie. During the movie, he is narrating the letters that he is writing to his sponsored child, Ngudu. He pronounces it as "EN-GOODU."

Well, at the end, he comes home and is feeling lower than low. He thinks his life is shit. He checks his mail and there is a letter from the agency. It is written by a missionary that is volunteering in the village that Ngudu lives in. He ends up drawing a picture for Schmidt. It's a picture of Ngudu holding Schmidt's hand. This brings him to tears and the movie ends. There is NO better ending to a movie than this one.

Today, after a long week at work, I arrived home and checked my mailbox. Alas, a letter from World Vision. I opened it, and it was a progress report on Sarit, my sponsored child in Thailand. Among the progress was an updated picture of him, his favourite fruits, colours, animals, etc. I was reading this on the elevator which I was sharing with another man. I flipped the page over and he had drawn me a picture with pencil crayons. It entailed the ocean, a tree, the sky, a carrot and the sun. Above the picture he had printed:

I LOVE YOU.

Well, holy moly. It was like I was reading sappy cards in the Hallmark store. It brought me to tears. The fella in the elevator probably wondered what news I had just read. Mind you, I am totally PMS'ing so I am more emotional than normal.

World Vision is a wonderful organization; I am so happy to have become a part of it. The progress reports and the letters from him are so exciting to receive, because I know my money is going directly to the child. $35 a month is nothing, considering I drop that in one night for dinner and a movie.

If you have ever considered getting involved, let me know. I will be happy to share my info with you.