This is a little late, but I am glad it is late, because I found better words. Tonight I went to see Hearts Out Loud with Nick Offerman at Plaza Frontenac. I went because my little sister invited me to go with her son and her husband. Katie told me it would sell out, so I rushed out of my nap to get there on time. All 4 of us are tall, so there was no relief for the old man behind me. Before the movie started he reached out tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could get lower so he could see. Without turning around, I told him probably not because there was no place to go. He then loudly whispered to his wife, "Oh no, I hope I did not make him feel bad." As the movie began I tried to get lower in my seat, but immediately had back pain. Later as the movie got good, I leaned forward and watched resting my chin on my knees.
Heart Out Loud with great acting by the two leads, Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons. The movie is directed by Brett Haley and written by him and Marc Basch. I loved this movie and I wondered what I would have thought about it when Molly or Bridget were high school seniors. It is a love story and a story about dreams sidetracked. It is a love story between father and daughter and a love story between two 18 year old girls. It is a marvelous story and I enjoyed the entire movie, it is a movie about music and the writer wrote this movie like a song, where you could marvel at the drums while the singer was singing the hooks or just listen to the lead guitar for a while. As age contemporaries of mine, I loved the friendship between Nick Offerman and Ted Danson both living different lives than they imagined as youngsters.
I want everyone I am having breakfast to know this simple truth. I love you. And I am going to continue to love you no matter who you love.
New paragraph, I wanted that last one to stand alone. Reread it now if you like. I was a part of Molly's wedding, I was honored to be a part of it. It was my first lesbian wedding. Molly was such a joy to coach, she kind of took my coaching and went past it. I remember watching Molly in a varsity game her Junior year. I was still the JV coach, so I was just watching this game. Molly was at that time about the third sub to enter the game. In other words, the coach thought she was the 8th best player on the team. She entered the game and immediately began freelancing. She would sprint long for a pass and be wide open. The other players did not immediately recognize her great read of the game and did not get her the ball. She did not stop, she was always making great game decisions to help her team. At that moment she understood the game better than anyone on the floor. It was brash and cheeky and not what the "8th best player" was supposed to do. But to quote a line from the movie, "You have to be brave, before you can be good."
That is as good of description of Molly as I can write, "She is brave." She is kind and funny and goofy and incredibly loyal. But most of all she is brave. Tom and Brigid I want you to see this movie, because you always loved Molly and you always loved who she was and reveled in all that she brings to all of us. I think Tom you will look at Nick Offerman looking at his daughter in this movie and just really understand his look more than I could. Molly is now raising twin 3 year old boys and she relayed to me today, there might be an obstacle or two in her life. But I know she will raise her boys the way she was raised. She will raise these young men to be brave.
Molly has an incredible heart and has on more than one occasion, given me a wonderful gift. Her gift today was Bridget Bailey. Molly and Bridget know each other from Nerinx basketball where Bridget was her teammate and her mentor. Bridget beat on Molly during practice and made her a better player and a strong player, she might have taught her to be _______. Bridget and Molly are teammates and have a bond that can only be developed through sports. I have good friends that I did not play sports with, but bonds I developed on the fields or the courts have a different kind of strength. Years later, I hear the stories about how Bridget looked after all the younger players on the team, she might have led them astray a little bit also. But those stories are now a chuckle, and glad I did not know as their coach. Bridget was a National Champion in basketball in college and although Molly and Bridget both joked about it today. It tells something about who she is and who she was. They also have another common bond, they both had parents that loved them. I sometimes think of Bridget as the Chris Carpenter of Nerinx. She was the one that had the toughness that inspired the others to live up to her toughness. The farther the Cardinals get away from the legacy of Chris Carpenter they are not the same. Same with Nerinx and Bridget.
I will not have my own daughter in this life, but when I reminisce with students and players that I have been blessed to teach and coach, I feel some "fatherly" pride. How could you not be proud of these two. I know what Frank Fischer thought when he saw his daughter Sam sing in this movie. Tears filled my eyes but did not run down to my knees. I moved as close as I could to this movie to take in its heart and its love.
As the credits rolled the old man behind me said, "Thank you for your efforts, you did real good." Then he reached down and squeezed my shoulder as a father would.
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