Three things made me cry in the last 24 hours

If you came here today to read a take on technology or some observation on leadership and you're not up for personal notes on my current somewhat raw emotional state: Quick, get out of here while you can...

Still here? Well, then:

Three things made me cry in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday we sat down and tried to decide what movie to watch. Netflix suggested a movie titled "Remarkably Bright Creatures" with an octopus as narrator voiced by Alfred Molina (one of my favorite actors... I'm sure the fact that he played Doc Ock in Spider-Man is just a coincidence). The description said "Drama" and I joked to my wife "be warned, we'll be tricked into loving the octopus and then it commits suicide by sushi chef". Well, spoiler alert, THAT didn't happen. This movie was delightful from beginning to end in all the right ways and different from what we expected. It was funny in a natural and unforced way, and quiet when it needed to be. The characters were vulnerable and oozing love out of every scene, one way or another, without ever being sappy. It had a happy end which did not surprise us, but it got there in a way that did. The movie made me feel a little like I felt watching Forrest Gump and yes, I cried there too. So, watch it, in case you didn't notice: This is an endorsement.

Today is Saturday and we're 18 days after Susanne's mastectomy. Not all of these days were bad days but it is safe to say that we struggle (well, her obviously much more than me). For me this marks the first time that there's a problem I can't possibly force out of the way or solve directly. I cannot do it for her, I cannot make it better. All I can do is create the space that makes this process ever so slightly easier. After brekkie today I had some time and thought I'd spend it with the book I'm currently reading from a series I enjoy (Three Pines, or Inspector Gamache, written by Louise Penny). The characters in the book go through substantial hardship and when everything seemed to be darkest they fought back with kindness, humor, and companionship. Scenes tugged on my heartstrings, but what really got me in the end was Louise Penny's afterword. She writes about her husband battling dementia while she wrote this story, and about how the kindness of strangers, the attention of friends and family, and the new home they had moved into just before his diagnosis made a huge difference and allowed them to get through it. Well. Damn. Thank you Louise for reducing me to a puddle. We're having a similar experience right now, with wonderful people showing us kindness, sometimes in the most unexpected moments.

Oh, and then there was the third moment I didn't see coming: It is 25 years after the states were attacked by terrorists. 25-year-old me was in New York City that day, my first wife and I were vacationing in the city that never sleeps, staying with family in Queens. To this day it puzzles me how I can't recall what I had for dinner 2 days ago but feel like I know what the people I saw on that trip were wearing. Anyway. 25 years is a milestone, so most of our favorite Canadian news program was about this moment. There are so many stories about 9/11 that stay with me but the one that I love the most is how the small town of Gander took in thousands of airline passengers when they all got stranded in the wake of the attack. Well, Gander was part of yesterday's reporting. When they spoke with one of the locals who spent hours preparing food, giving shelter, helping complete strangers deal with an impossible situation I was not surprised. But when that lady pulled out a box of letters, told the camera that she still receives them and started reading off some of the words, it hit me out of nowhere.

For some reason it is the kindness of strangers that somehow gets me. When I turn on the news I sometimes vibrate with anger bordering on rage about the ignorance and inhumanity some people bring into the world or consider appropriate. But kindness always outshines the darkness and no matter how deep the well is that you fell into - it is this fundamental principle that will win the day in the end.