The Green Grass of Home

The Green Grass of Home

 

    I like movies that are entertaining yet inspirational. Not very often in today’s world do we get such movies that can be viewed by the entire family and you come away with that awesome feeling of inspiration. One such piece of literary work was filmed in 1939 and it lingers in my mind. What is so great about this movie is the fact it is still relatively popular even in today’s culture.

 

This provocative film was about a young girl who dreamt she went on a long journey far away from her hometown and family. She was running away from the problems that were creating stress in her life.

 

Like all of us, we think running away will solve these viscous little problems, but in essence it really compounds them.

 

In her dream she was carried away from the rural farm in Kansas where she lived, by a massive swirling tornado, to a far off land where she struggled to find her way home. During her journey she encountered several people or creatures very familiar to her but unrecognizable, people who had particular needs in their lives as well.

 

As she journeyed through the unfamiliar land she was offered help by numerous people, people of different cultures, trying to help her find her way back home. During the course of her travels she met with difficulties relevant to the ones that plagued her life back home. Without family or old friends, she had to rely on new friends with issues of their own, to help her.

 

Soon she discovered there were problems no matter where she was and life had become worse since running away and more difficult to cope with. In the end this young woman realized that she could not solve her problems but she was able to help the others with theirs.

 

The friendships forged during that journey opened her eyes to the real world and she realized it was not all about her. That film was “The Wizard of Oz.”

 

I once heard that you need to be careful what you ask for because you may just get it.

 

In the story of Dorothy, she wanted to run away from home, away from her problems leaving the ones that she loved and the ones that loved her behind. After she got her wish, it didn’t take long till she wanted to come back home to those people; realizing the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

 

The issue before her was that she did not know how to get back home and desperately needed help.

 

My daughter, at a very young age, decided to run away from home because her Mother had not let her have her way. My wife’s Aunt and Uncle lived about one hundred yards away, so my daughter packed her bag and baby doll and headed out the door to go live with them.

 

It hurt to watch the child leave because no one ever, no matter what age, wants to see their children leave home, but she headed out the door. The sun had gone down and it was getting dusk as we watched that small child walk down the driveway into the street.

 

Her small head turned a couple of times, looking back I’m sure to see if we would come after her, but we stayed inside the house watching at the door where she could not see us. When she got to the stop sign at the end of the street she paused for what seemed an eternity and then turned and came back to the house, smiling as she came through the door.

 

It seems to be a trend and has been for ages that if we run from our problems then we can escape them. Each generation has issues that seem to be difficult to deal with, but dealing with them is the game changer.

 

Years ago, while in my early years of high school, a very popular young girl lost her life in a car accident on Thanksgiving Day. Tragic to have a young life snuffed out at the age of sixteen, especially someone who was as popular and sweet as this girl.

 

When school reopened on Monday morning, there were no grief counselors to interview us all one by one, no we accepted that life was but for a moment and to live each moment as it was our last. We didn’t run away from the tragedy that encompassed the school, we leaned on one another for support and it made us stronger.

 

We had friends who went to war in Vietnam and never returned, we grieved and got angry, but we dealt with it and life went on. Our problems today seem to be blamed on problems that others have.

 

My daughter never ran away from home again, she understood that life is not always fair and that it was not all about her. She now has three beautiful little girls and they are being taught the same values and that things in life aren’t always fair.

 

You should really be careful what you wish for, because you really may get it and then what will you do with it?  A quote from the movie sticks with me: “If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard because if it isn't there I never really lost it to begin with!”

 

“Life Happens”