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Laura Parrott Perry

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What brave looks like

June 5, 2015 By Laura Parrott Perry 23 Comments

Childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome. That’s what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will, too…

Birdee- Hope Floats

I love the movie Hope Floats.  I like Sandra Bullock tremendously- I think she’s a great actress, and a delight. I totally want to hang out with her. (Sandra- call me!) She’s fantastic in broad comedies, of course, but I’ve always been moved by her quieter performances.

I think she makes really interesting decisions as an actress, both in the characters she picks and the way she portrays them.

In the film, Sandra plays Birdee- a woman who was THAT girl in high school.  Beautiful, popular.  The kind of girl that all the other girls either envied or emulated- or both.  Daring in the way that only a girl at the top of the high school social food chain can afford to be, at that age.  Birdee finds herself married to a cad who cheats on her, and then humiliates her on national television. Birdee flees home, seeking the safety of her mother’s house to lick her wounds.

Birdee’s mother, Ramona, is played by the incomparable Gena Rowlands.  She’s a strong, no-nonsense, southern matriarch.  She is kind, but doesn’t cotton to feeling sorry for yourself.  You are not going to get away with self pity in her presence.  She’s more likely to give you a wise but pointed piece of her mind than permission to wallow.

Birdee: You just never liked Bill. 

Ramona:  Oh, I like all of God’s creatures; I just like some of them better stuffed. And he’s one of them.

Ramona passes away.  After the funeral, Birdee’s daughter, Bernice, wants to leave with her daddy, who she worships and idealizes in the wake of the break up.  Her father, however, wants time with Connie- the woman he cheated on Birdee with- to ‘give it a chance.’  He says no. The little girl (played beautifully by Mae Whitman of Parenthood fame) is devastated. Birdee sees her daughter sobbing and banging on the car window, begging her father to take her.

I don’t know what the stage direction was, but another actress might have had her character run to her daughter, scoop her up, cover her in kisses.  Or have her angry at the thought that her daughter wanted to go with her philandering father, rather than stay with her mother who’d just suffered a loss. I probably would have cried at either of those portrayals, too. But the reason that scene has stayed with me since the first time I saw it, years ago, is that’s not what Sandra, as Birdee, does.

She lets her daughter make her plea.  She watches her daughter get a glimpse of who her father really is, then Birdee stands up, and almost imperceptibly squares her shoulders. Then in measured, patient steps walks down to collect her heartbroken child.

She doesn’t pat her head and console her.  She doesn’t weep along with her.  She quietly, and with incredible dignity, picks her up and walks silently back into the house.

She becomes her mother’s daughter in that moment.

I am undone watching that scene, every time.

That’s the kind of acting that has always moved me- not the chewing up the scenery kind. Not the epic battles, or the theatrical tirades.  The quiet moments, when you watch someone decide to be brave.  Because it’s always a decision.

When I was working in special ed, I had a student that required supervision at recess.  He would seek out other kids to play with, and sometimes they would let him in their game, and sometimes they would not.

Our job was to stand back and let him navigate those social waters himself- the way he would need to in life.  It was excruciating, some days.

One day, there were some girls playing basketball.  One girl, in particular, was THAT girl. Taller than her friends.  Gorgeous.  Popular.  Athletic.  The kind of girl who sets the tone. The kind of girl who other girls follow, for better or for worse. He walked up and asked if he could join their game.

Most of the girls looked at one another and snickered.  Some started to say they were just about done playing.  My heart sank, and I fought the urge to intervene.

I looked at her.  I watched her, THAT girl, look at her friends, and really see them.  And then I saw it. I saw her make the choice to be kind, and I watched her make the decision to be brave. I heard her say, Let’s go. To him.

Then she picked up the ball, gestured to him to follow.  She turned her back on the girls, and then walked off with him to play one on one. She didn’t have to do that.  She could have stayed with her posse of “it” girls and played it safe.  She didn’t.

It’s in those quiet moments that we reveal who we fundamentally are.  Not in the rages of battle, although of course there is bravery there, too.  Most of us don’t find ourselves on the front lines of war, though.  We find ourselves on the front lines of our lives- where the casualties can be just as devastating, they just don’t make headlines.

Sometimes courage is loud and grand, but more often than not I think it’s a quiet little squaring of your shoulders.  A decision to do the hard thing.  Sometimes it isn’t the grand speech.  Sometimes courage is keeping your mouth shut, and letting things be what they are.  Sometimes courage is knowing that what is needed is not sympathy, but stoicism.

Sometimes it’s less about winning the battle, and more about letting the gut punch go unreturned, ignoring the mean spirited text.  Sometimes it’s standing by and letting your child experience something hard.  And then it is the measured, silent walk to pick up the pieces left in someone else’s wake.

Sometimes, friends, it’s a game of one on one.

Every day, when I send my daughter off to school, I try and remember to tell her the following three things.  “Be kind.  Be brave.  Do your best.”  And every morning, when I say it, I think of that girl.

Bravery is always a decision. Always.

ps  There IS a good tirade in the movie.  Sometimes it’s an AND not an OR.

You think that I don’t know that? I know that I’m not what I once was. I know that! But I haven’t changed so much, that I would go and lie to someone that I love. God, I would walk through fire before I’d let them feel like they were nothing! And I would never break up anybody’s home. Because I am not a quitter. I care about my family! I may not be the same person, but then again, neither are you. You’re sad, you’re weak, and you’re… shorter, if you want to know the truth.

The scene that kills me dead.

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Laura Parrott Perry

Hi, I’m Laura. I'm an author and blogger who believes we all have a story to tell.

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Comments

  1. The Farmers Taft says

    June 5, 2015 at 1:10 pm

    Well. Now I have to watch Hope Floats with my 12 year old daughter, and tell her about your story of THAT girl, because I’m so darn inspired. You write so good.

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 6, 2015 at 12:35 pm

      It’s such a good movie- It gets labeled as a romantic comedy, but I don’t think that’s right. I think it’s a mother/daughter movie.

      Reply
  2. Recolleran@me.com says

    June 5, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    Why do I read this before school? You would think I would learn! Thank you for your passion and for always digging at my heart,. You are such a gifted writer. ❤️ Renee

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 6, 2015 at 12:35 pm

      That’s so kind of you to say, Renee. xoxoxoxoxox

      Reply
  3. Sharyn Constantine says

    June 5, 2015 at 1:55 pm

    Thank you for posting this. It reminded me to hold my head up high and keep on doing the right thing. To move forward with courage and dignity. And to be a living example to my son. I adore “Be kind. Be brave. Do your best.” I’m going to adopt that for both him and I. A very uplifting read.

    Reply
  4. shivoo3 says

    June 5, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    sharyn constantine can i be your pokemon till death do us apart

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 5, 2015 at 2:36 pm

      ‘kay. that made me laugh.

      Reply
  5. Lizzrunner13 says

    June 5, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    Exactly. Loved this movie since 1998. Since I was 15 years old. Loved this scene. Hated this scene. Never knew this scene would feel so real. My husband filed for divorce yesterday and we have a 19 month old son. It’s for the best, and I know it. But COURAGE, come to me. BRAVERY, stay inside me. HOPE float over this way! 🙂

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 5, 2015 at 2:36 pm

      hang on, sweet friend. Both hands. xo

      Reply
  6. Jessica Malionek @ thecounterstool.me says

    June 5, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    Perfect timing for this as I grapple with my own bravery these last few days. Wanting to lean in to feeling small and that impulse to hide. Knowing that if I do, that is simply reactive living but not authentic living. I am eye-ball deep in my trauma work and it’s scary as hell but it’s good work. Necessary work. Brave work. Leaving me raw and exposed and vulnerable as I share my story. Thank you for the reminder that brave can look like all sorts of things. I found this after posting just that on my FB page. I needed it and there it was. Much love to you!

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 6, 2015 at 12:36 pm

      Eyeball deep is where bravery lives, friend.

      Reply
      • Jessica Malionek @ thecounterstool.me says

        June 7, 2015 at 12:37 am

        Love that! Thank you. 😉

        Reply
  7. lizamryan says

    June 5, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    <3

    Reply
  8. mypersonallthing says

    June 5, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    Reblogged this on my personal thing and commented:
    This is a really nice post 🙂

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 5, 2015 at 3:19 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
      • mypersonallthing says

        June 5, 2015 at 3:19 pm

        🙂

        Reply
  9. Carey H says

    June 5, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    Sweet friend, this post is even better than the movie.

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 6, 2015 at 12:38 pm

      I don’t know about THAT!!!! I watched it with my daughter last night. She *almost* admitted she liked it, which means she LOVED it. I’m applying for a job as Google translator for 15 year old girls.

      Reply
  10. Lynn says

    June 5, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    Thank you for this post. One of my kids is going through a hard time and a push for us both to be brave and stoic is what is required.
    It is very hard to watch them suffer though 🙁

    Reply
    • In Others' Words says

      June 5, 2015 at 3:44 pm

      The hardest. xo

      Reply
  11. Snapshotsincursive says

    June 5, 2015 at 11:52 pm

    It’s still one of my favorite movies. ?

    Reply
  12. Alex Könst says

    June 9, 2015 at 3:37 am

    I always thought that bravery is shown in the smallest of gestures, and after reading this, I felt relieved that I wasn’t the only one who thought of bravery this way. Most people I know think of bravery as something brash and loud and aggressive. It is the simplest act of saying ‘no,’ the simplest gesture of waving goodbye, that simple click in the brain that tells you what to do. Everyone has a choice, it’s either they don’t see it yet, or they don’t want to see it. Thank you for this post 🙂 I might just watch this movie, it sounds really beautiful 🙂

    Reply
  13. Joy says

    June 10, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    Beautifully written. Really makes me want to watch the movie.

    Reply

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