my sister's keeper

everyone should watch my sister's keeper.

before watching, i was telling sel sure cry one.

sure enough, just 10 minutes into the show and i was sobbing away.

and tears continued to flow for the entire show.

scenes that particularly struck me

when kate (the sister with leukemia) unexpectedly found the love of her life, taylor, who was also a dying cancer patient, they started dating and this was how kate described their relationship to her sister anna:

kate: he has scars on his hands from graft-versus-host. i could feel them when we were holding hands.

anna: was that weird?

kate: it was kind of like we matched.

the next scene was when taylor visited kate at her ward. their friendly banter was interrupted by kate puking really badly and feeling conscious about it, while taylor patted her on the back and gave her more than just towels, but love and support. their relationship was uncommon, but so beautiful.

kate: (in a mess after puking) sorry.

taylor: what are you talking about? tomorrow it could be me. here. (offering towel)

one thing i really like about this film is how they made use of not only dialogue, but bringing focus on facial expressions to convey so much meaning, with the subtle yet apt choice of music to heighten the emotion and to pull the heartstrings.

this film made me more aware of how real death is. sometimes there's no point fighting death, because when your time on earth is up, you have to learn to let go. just like how kate's mum went through a painful lesson, only to realise that her desperately trying to keep kate alive was not only causing kate even more pain, but her entire family as well. instead of clinging on to that thin thread of hope, why not allow kate to live her dying moments to the fullest?

i really love kate's smile in the movie, despite her looking really sick and chui nearing her death. it wasn't exactly a gorgeous and glamorous sight, but her sincere smile warms my heart.

i also realised that cancer patients are no different from us. they, like us, need to love and to be loved, perhaps even more than we do. it's what keeps them going. and it's a really beautiful thing when they've found love. they also need to be accepted and be assured that they are beautiful no matter how they look, because it's the heart that matters. and that's what love should be all about. not because of how they look or how little trouble they bring to our lives, but because of who they truly are or simply because they are our sister.

just like how God loves us.

unconditional love.