A Requiem for what we've Lost and a Remembrance of what is Gained...

She was an angel.  Of that, I have no doubt.  Her eyes shined so brightly in life, lighting up every room she ever occupied.  Her laughter and her presence was like being near some unknown part or place in Heaven.  She fought so hard to live the life she was given and we were blessed with.  Hand in hand with her mother, she fought against the cystic fibrosis that invaded her lungs.

They are very much alike in their attributes-- beautiful fighters, blessings to every life they entered.  She had the heart and strength and love of her mother deep within her and walking beside her from the day she was born.

I am convinced her mother is an angel as well.  Beauty births beauty, strength carries strength, love endures and there is hope.  Her mother showed that.  Every day, every night.  For very near sixteen years.  Caring for and loving every moment they had-- not wasting one.  She sacrificed much so that her daughter would have a blessed life, so she could be a girl, so she could laugh and see things and live a life.  Her mother's love carried her in her life.

This little one lost her fight against the disease in her lungs late in the night on March 12, 2013.  Those touching and heart-wrenching last moments between them reminds me of the difficult beauty and promise that our lives here are but a moment and though we are more empty without her in our lives, that emptiness will be filled and overflowed when we are reunited to a grander and more beautiful life that we can't even come close to compare in Heaven.  There is only a temporary goodbye in life.  There is a promise that our lives are not just what we live and see now, but far beyond what we know.  There is Hope in these lives we live when there is no death to fear.

And now, that mother grieves.  She grieves the loss of her angel just four months shy of her sixteenth birthday.  How my heart hurts for her.  The love I have for this little angel is nothing compared to the love and loss her mother suffers.

I wish I could comfort.  I wish I could make better.  I wish I could hold her hurting.  I wish I had more to give.  But I know everything that I could ever give is not enough.  No amount of words or sacrifice or comfort could ever heal what only God can heal.  Only God can give peace and understanding.  Only God.  All I can do is pray.

Never before has an Easter made more sense.  I've heard the stories, I grew up with them.  I know the sacrifice.  This has been a hard year with a lot of sobering loss.  First my grandfather and now such a sweet little girl who's time was far too soon.  Death did not have to be a part of His plan, but He died so that when our bodies did, we would know what real life truly is... in eternity, filled with joy and pure Love.  Though our bodies fail and fall like the sun set, in Faith we rise again to a new and intended life.  That is our promise.  The little one we have lost is Heaven's gain.  She breathes deep, filling those once damaged lungs with the sweet smells surrounding her, filling them with laughter and talking to us in our prayers without the hindrance of coughing or shortness of breath.  She is free and playing and she will be ready to run into our arms when our time comes to be called Home.

You will never be far from our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers, Delaney Faith... I look forward to seeing you there.

Delaney Faith Gralike
July 31, 1997- March 12, 2013
"Rest in His arms, little one... rest."

In Memory and in Honor...

Memorial Day.  May 30, 2011.

In memory and in honor to all those who have served, continue to serve and to those fallen who have paid the ultimate price so that we can live and breathe free until our final breaths leave us.

In memory and honor to my Mother, who served her country for over thirty years and recently retired from her service in highest regard.  She was serving in the Pentagon on that 11th day in September, 2001. Thank you for your time and sacrifice.  You served your country above and beyond.

In memory and honor to my Grandfather, Roy E. Shipman, who served in the Pacific campaign of Guadalcanal in 1942.  He was 21 at the time; a young country boy who worked a farm in the middle of a small town in the middle of Missouri.
What he saw changed him; his friends dying or dead lying beside him for days in a wet, muddy foxhole, a thousand dead (American and Japanese) scattered as far as his eyes could see, the lives he had to take in defense, the violence one man takes against another witnessed first hand on such a grand scale, and so much more.  To this day, he is unable to talk for any length of time or in much detail about his time there.  But, he went so that we might be free from the tyranny that had attacked our shores at Pearl Harbor.
My Grandfather fought and suffered loss like so many others, and felt guilty that he lived while so many did not.

In memory and in honor.

In memory and in honor we take today to lift up those who've sacrificed so much for things we take for granted everyday, for freedoms we cherish and for the lives we are able to live.

You are remembered always and we honor you.  Thank you.

Brice

Here are a few recent Memorial Day worthy movies that capture in art the many sacrifices given:

Saving Private Ryan

The Thin Red Line

HBO's Band of Brothers and The Pacific

and if you don't mind a little too much "hollywood", check out Pearl Harbor & The Patriot

Enjoy.

B

This Bride's Got 'em...

Bridesmaids (R)
Directed by Paul Feig and Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Wendi McClendon-Covey, Jon Hamm and Chris O'Dowd

It has been a very long time since I have both laughed out loud (lol to you twitter/ texters) and enjoyed a comedy fully in the theater.  Kristen Wiig (who also co-wrote the movie) is such a talent as a hilarious, real and flawed maid of honor.  Her chemistry (and the chemistry of the whole cast together) on screen is a welcome sight and something that has been missing in comedies lately.  Melissa McCarthy is a scene-stealer in her own right and whenever she is on screen, you know it's good.

Produced by renown comedy producer Judd Apatow (40 year old virgin, Knocked up, Step Brothers and many others) you can count on it being funny, over the top sexual humor and plenty of language.  Although this movie did have those things, it really didn't seem as bad as it could have been.  But, it is hilarious.  I was crying with laughter in one scene in particular and would even venture to say that I'd see it again.

Bridesmaids is a seriously funny movie built on a foundation of friendship and heart.  See it with some friends and have fun with it.

Enjoy,

Brice

Not so Strange a Tide...

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (PG-13)
Directed by Rob Marshall and Starring Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush

The fourth installment of Disney's fun-under-the-Caribbean-sun-money-maker opened a little over a week ago and after seeing it, I'm still on the fence on how I liked it.  I suppose I could say that, yes, I did like it but perhaps the whole franchise has just lost some luster.  

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Pirates movie and thought that it was absolutely fun and filled with wonderful characters, effects and adventure.  However, the second and third installments were very disappointing and just way too weird and over the top for me.  It almost seemed like they were written as an afterthought... like they were surprised with how well the first one did and wanted to ride the money train on it by making something more far out, weird and confusing.  

On Stranger Tides did "feel" a little more like the first one but I could feel that the powers that be wanted to put some things in it to stay on par with the weirdness of the last two installments.  There was just a feeling that they didn't really know which way they wanted to go with this one.

But, it was a fun adventure, well filmed, pretty descent effects and well worth a nice, cozy matinee ticket.

Enjoy.

It's Always the End of the World...

May 21, 2011.

The latest "prediction" of the coming day of judgement was a false one (at least I hope so, or myself and the rest of the world need to rethink our lives).  I know this is a few days after all the hulla-baloo but I'm a slow processor-- it takes me a little while to formulate and present thoughts on things I want to speak or write about.

So, what do I have to say about this?  Well, I am struck with the thought of all the time and energy spent on trying to figure out and convince so many about the end of the world.  It amazes me that a) people are so obsessed with cracking the "code" and having to be "the one" who is so amazingly intelligent that they figure it out (from the billions of people in the world) and b) what a horribly wasted life they lead.  A life filled with an obsession of the end of everything (death) is no life lived, in my opinion.  And, just to throw this out there: a true Christian would never predict the apocalypse.  A true Christian knows that "...no one will know the time or place..." and anyone who claims they do know?  Two words:  False. Prophet.

Maybe we should be worried less with the fears of the coming end of the world and concentrate a more positive energy toward learning to LIVE in the time and moments we have left while we have them.  So much of life is wasted on worry and fear of what's beyond our physical lives that the amazing things that surround us everyday are lost on us.  We fail to see beauty right in front of us when we are breaking our necks trying to look around at the broken, the uncontrollable and the darknesses.

My grandfather is 90 years old.  For the past five years, he has wasted away, just waiting to die.  He refuses to do anything because he is afraid.  He barely eats and he sleeps 15 to 20 hours a day.  When he isn't sleeping, he just sits in a chair and stares out the window; watching and waiting.  His weight and muscle mass has dropped drastically due to inactivity, his breathing is shallow and there is nothing left behind his eyes.  He is simply waiting to die.  I still love him very much but it's so hard to understand this mindset and it's not what I want to remember about him at all.
This is simply a comparison of the fear we choose to live by-- whether it's sitting around, waiting to die or sitting around trying to figure out a completely unknowable mystery of the universe and waiting to die.

I would rather spend my time focused on the more beautiful things that surround us in our lives.  I would rather choose the path of life; it is painful, hard, lonely, frustrating and filled with the most beautiful things God could ever share.  A life focused on death is easy, irresponsible and lazy.

Find something beautiful and live...

Enjoy,

Brice

The Eleventh Hour Gift...

Thoughts on the Resurrection the day after.

Every year at this time, starting with Good Friday, I (like so many others) reflect on the weekend of Easter and what it has become in Americana lore and what it truly is.  The differences between the two are quite amazingly different.
The Americana lore will have you think that for some very strange reason, we celebrate a magical talking bunny that has the voice of the unfunny Russell Brand, hides eggs in the yard and (according to the latest cutesy digitally animated movie, Hop) poops jelly beans.  What is there to "celebrate" there?

The truth is far more meaningful.  And far more Hopeful.

Every year for the past ten years or so, I've read excerpts from a book called 'Six Hours One Friday' by Max Lucado.  There is one chapter specifically that culminates all my hopes and focuses my heart and mind once again.  It is Chapter 13, "The Eleventh Hour Gift".  In this chapter, I am moved at the turning of a hardened heart-- a thief also crucified beside Christ.  He started his day as the lowest in his society, paying the price of his thievery and poor judgment.  He even mocked Christ.  But, then he did something none of the other mockers did... he watched him.  He watched as Christ prayed for those who spat upon him and beat him, he watched him as he seemed to invite the nails to pierce his skin.  This changed the man that was a thief.  This changed his heart and as he watched Christ, he wanted to be with Christ.  All he did was ask.  And Christ said, "yes."  In the final moments of his wayward and self-destructive life, the thief found the truth and he found forgiveness.  He was awarded peace.

In all our faults and all of our failures, even in a destroyed life, Christ renews and saves.  We just have to watch him and ask to know.


One of my favorite movies relates to this very topic and I would say is a modern retelling of this thief's story.  The movie is called "The 25th Hour" and stars Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson, Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox.  It is an amazingly told story from Director Spike Lee.

In this story, we find Edward Norton as a prominent drug dealer and thief in a post-9/11 New York City.  He has been arrested and while he's out on bail, he starts to rethink his life and the mistakes he's made.  On his last night as a free man, he gathers with his closest friends, imparting apologies and repairing damage he's caused.  He gives them gifts and says his good byes.  He sits with his father for his last meal as a free man and his father talks him through the choice of lives he could have; one life as the drug dealer and thief and another of a life filled with love and redemption.

"Say the word, son, and we'll start a new life."

This is an amazing movie.  The last 20 minutes really brings home the feelings and hopes of a better life that we could choose.  We just have to choose it.  We have to watch and ask.

I hope you had a wonderful and true Easter.

Enjoy,

Brice

Just Beneath the Surface...

Buried (R)
Directed by Rodrigo Cortes and Starring Ryan Reynolds

 A hard-working American man in Iraq, driving trucks under contract with the United States government, wakes up in a box buried somewhere with time running out for anyone to find him.  Given only the tools to meet the demands of those responsible (a lighter and glow stick, a cell phone with a low battery and the clothes on his back), Paul Conroy finds himself struggling to survive and finding the answers to the mystery that brought him beneath the surface.

 This is a very well-constructed and suspenseful mystery that surprisingly grabs hold and doesn't let go until the end.  In the tradition of classic Hitchcock, Buried literally takes your breath away and puts you in the box with Paul.

 I'll admit, before I saw this movie, I thought to myself, "Sounds all right, but how in the world can they make a movie about a guy buried alive and keep it interesting?"  Well... they did it.  They kept me on the edge of my seat and I found myself rooting for Paul (and for a breath), hoping he would solve the mystery and foil the insidious plot that placed him there.
 For an hour and a half, I was glued to the story.  It is told surprisingly well and the movie is visually stunning and interesting perspectives keep you nice and close, packed tightly with the main (really, the only) character of the film.
 Ryan Reynolds shows off a great skill in his performance once again that proves his talent lies far beyond the comedy he's known for.  I remember seeing him in the Amityville Horror remake in 2005.  He impressed me then and he impresses me still.

 I won't ruin the ending, but will say, if you love good mystery and suspense that has you taking (and appreciating) deep breaths, you'll love this film.  Check it out.  You'll definitely dig it (sorry, i couldn't help the pun...lol).

Enjoy.

Brice