Marley and Me

Last night, Becky and I watched Marley and Me. It was a great movie! It probably ranks up there in my top ten movies of all time. In lots of ways, its a "dog movie" and I am not a dog person at all so one might think that I would not like the movie. But it says so much more about life and relationships than just being a "dog movie". I was so pleasantly surprised that Hollywood produced a movie that romanticised true love, family, and commitment instead of the usual flicks that promote romance, casual sex, and pleasure.

The movie had much to say about the hardships and difficulties that come with family, children, and commitment. It didn't sugarcoat the fact that family life especially when starting out isn't all fun and games. It is hard work. Tiredness is a constant and much stress is placed on the marriage relationship. It didn't shy away from the "look at all I've given up" conversation. It showed the hard times but in the end, revealed the product of committed relationships and family.

It was such a good time for me to watch Marley and Me. This is the exact stage of life that I am in and it is very difficult. Having three children under the age of six is constant work in addition to trying to carry out another "job" as well (parenting is the hardest "job" you will ever experience). You can't ever clock out from being a parent or a spouse and the issues are non-stop. Even having enough milk in the house is a constant battle at the cereal loving Suiter house and that is a VERY small thing. Mary was born at the beginning of 2009 and it has been a very trying and hard year. I never even saw it coming. There have been times when I wondered if I was going to make it but through it all, I realize how incredibly blessed I am!

There are still many moments when my frustration level gets very high (like this past week during a wind storm when I was up practically all night with 2 very frightened little girls) but the reality is that I am blown away but the goodness of God. He has blessed me with a wonderful wife and three beautiful little girls. Every time I hold any one of the four of them, I am moved with gratitude and amazed that I get to be Becky's husband and Brannon, Anna, and Mary's daddy.

Check out the movie. Its really good, but a small piece of advice for all you young couples out there who don't have children yet: remember when watching the movie that while it doesn't romanticize the wrong things, it still romanticizes things and it takes a lot longer to see your kids past 2nd grade than 115 minutes!