We finally saw this movie last night- I had been looking forward to seeing it for a while. Anyway- the gist of the movie is that Emily (Julianne Moore) cheats on her husband, Cal (Steve Carrell), of 30+ years, and you see all the drama unfold. It's cute and it's sweet and some parts are cheesy- but I was still crying several times throughout. Now that doesn't mean much because I cry about a lot these days. I'm 29 weeks pregnant.
But, I think the sweetest part was that at one point, when Cal sneaks over to his old house to aerate and take care of his yard for the wife and kids he still loves, Bennett randomly said "You know...I would do that for you..." And I cried. I thought it was so sweet. He was sincere and I could tell. And then we both laughed because the next thing he said was "I was just waiting for you to say 'then why don't you get out there and take care of our sandlot of a backyard now?'" Ha.
Anyway- Cal and Emily met and fell in love when they were 15. And of course it made me think of when Bennett and I met. We were 12. We had both just moved to Texas, we were in 6th grade, both our siblings were in 9th, and they became fast friends too. Thinking back, I realized that I always knew Bennett was different. Even when I was in the 6th grade. He was silly and immature and lankier than you would ever have guessed knowing him now, but I could also tell there was something very serious and very sweet and caring about him. Not to say I could have articulated that then.
But I knew he was different and while I can't say I fully appreciated it- I did recognize the difference between him and the other boys. In the 6th grade, he would carry my trumpet and walk at least a mile with me to my after school choir class, then walk home by himself. I wish I could say I thought then that it was just so sweet- but I was probably more embarassed because it was me, my 3-4 silly girlfriends, and Davis in his hoodie, baggy shorts and shaggy skater hair. He would also call me on the phone. All the time. I've never liked talking on the phone...and I think in the 6th grade, talking on the phone was like the LAST thing on my mind. And he just wanted to chat away...about anything and everything.
And he was always a gentleman. He always jokes about how Nikki and Niles were constantly like "why don't you kiss her? kiss her already..." and how he would be like "SHE WON'T EVEN HOLD MY HAND. HOW AM I GOING TO KISS HER???" And he never tried and it's certainly a good thing for two reasons 1) I probably would have clocked him and 2) it made our first kiss when we were 20 even more exciting. We joke though, about how after I dumped him in the 6th grade, he downgraded by about a thousand to this girl named Kelly, and how he probably did this so they could make out already. Ha. They always come around to the good girls- that's what I'm going to tell our daughter.
Anyway- I love having memories of Bennett when he was younger. I remember after he went to private school in 7th grade, seeing him occasionally, and I told Bennett yesterday that the best way to describe my thoughts back then was that "he hadn't really grown into himself yet..."
Then I remember seeing him around high school occasionally and we would joke and talk even though we ran with completely different crowds. I remember hacky sacking with him in my cheerleading uniform before a basketball game. I wouldn't say I had my eye on him then- but I certainly still thought there was something unique about him.
And then I remember seeing him in about 10th grade after he had gone off to military school. HOLY COW. Lets just say he had certainly grown into himself. And some muscles. And a sharp military haircut. And some clothes that fit a little bit better. It's funny...we hadn't talked in years...but I asked him to go fishing with me. And he did. We went to my grandparents' house to pick up the rods and we drove out to the park and sat on the rocks and fished and talks for a few hours after not really having spent more than 15 minutes together since the 6th grade. We talked about his boarding school and I talked about what was going on with me...and I think we ate sunflower seeds, but we didn't catch anything.
I didn't see him again until the summer before my junior year of college. I had just gotten out of a serious relationship and was flirting with one of Bennett's old friends, thinking it might be a fun summer fling. I randomly went to see this friend at a store on main street I had never been to before...and not more than 5 minutes after I got there, in walked Davis Bennett. And Bennett's friend was instantly forgotten. To say I learned what it meant to be boy crazy that summer is an understatement. I was over the moon for Davis from about the second we started talking...I even remember what he was wearing (and I've kept that shirt till this day). He was with a girl, he introduced as a friend, who clearly had a crush on him as she had come all the way from the northeast to see him that summer.
And I'm sure it ruined her plans that my buddy and I took him up on his offer to go to Enchanted Rock with them that day. I wasn't about to miss that opportunity. I remember that we laughed and talked and rode with the top down on my friend's convertible singing "Tiny Dancer" at the top of our lungs. You would have thought we'd known each other forever. And I guess in some ways, we had.
Watching Crazy, Stupid, Love last night reminded me that soul mates are real and how lucky I am to have gotten to spend so much time with mine. There is never a doubt in my mind that I was made for Bennett and Bennett was made for me.
I couldn't love him more.
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