Nicholas Sparks

I honestly don't know why I keep giving Nicholas Sparks' movies a chance... they all make me cry or become angry.


#1 - "A Walk to Remember"
The year was 2002, I was 15yrs old. My dad had leukemia/just got through with chemo (my memory is a little blurry), I went to the movie with a group of girls most likely from church because someone's mother would have needed to drive us to the mall so we could go to the dollar theatre. What I do know- I did not pick this movie, I pretty much bawled my eyes out through the entire thing and really should have just left the theatre, but as a 15yr old my desire to leave and the chance getting made fun of by "friends" registered in the same category... oh the mind of an insecure teenager!


#2 - "Dear John"
Last year (2010) I won a contest through a military spouse blog and the prize was the book & dvd. I read the book, and well... here was my review:

At 3am last night I still couldn't sleep, I'd been tossing and turning since 2am... I had just finished the book Dear John. I finished it in 2 nights, I didn't want to read it any longer. From the very first paragraph, I knew I wouldn't like the ending. The theme of sacrificial love, was great, don't get me wrong but I hated how it was portrayed and how the book ended. It seems to give military relationships no hope. As I said before when it comes to Nicholas Sparks, I've only seen the movie A Walk to Remember and now added reading the book Dear John. Both of them left me crying and wishing it could have been different.


I think more than the ending, the story of how Savannah & John met (the short time he had there), the extremely short time spent together physically over years, and the very long distance relationship made it all to real for me. My husband and I mirrored a lot of it...


So at 3am... despite knowing my husband had to be up at 5am, I so desperately wanted to wake him up and tell him how much I loved him, how glad I am we were faithful to each other during our long times of separation, how much I believed him when he said everything would be okay, that we had faith enough to make it work. To make our love work, stay intact, despite it all... distance, time, arguments. We knew that love was not just a one-time choice, it was a decision you make every day- to continue loving. I ended up not waking him, even though he would have talked if I needed it. Instead, I just wiggled under his arm and laid my head on his chest until I finally fell asleep...


I fully agree with the book saying- in a marriage there is only room for two people. I can't help the fact that even though I know it was to show sacrificial love, how people could change for the better, there was so much guilt in the book it made it all very sad. I guess it was just not what I was expecting.

The movie didn't fare much better in my mind, they changed a few main points and gave a hint that they may get back together... under awkward circumstances, but it just didn't sit well with me. The military does have a 50% divorce rate, Quinn and I personally have a friend who received a real-life "Dear John" complete with divorce papers and the knowledge his {then} wife was pregnant with another man's child, all while deployed!


#3- "The Last Song"
Friday night (June 24th), Quinn had duty so I figured it was my time to watch a chick-flick, paint my toenails, etc. I can honestly say out of the three movies I've watched I actually did like this movie. However, it made me re-live both of my dad's intense rounds of chemotherapy. My intense feelings, fears, doubts, and bouts of tears! Talk about a rough night. Then when they got to the funeral scene I just lost it... I was right back in June of  2006, my best friend was standing in front of her church giving her father's eulogy. We were 19yrs old.


I'm pretty sure this is why I haven't seen The Notebook, won't see Message in a Bottle, or Nights in Rodanthe... they are too emotional and always seem to hit close to home!

Any movies/books do this to you?