"i am such a product of nora ephron, and proud of it... i think a little bit like nora ephron might have been my fairy godmother. on my best of days, i like to imagine i am living in a nora ephron movie. maybe even on my worst days, too."
a friend wrote a lovely little tribute to this woman (the quote, above, is from her) and it got me thinking about the impact ms. ephron had on my life as well. if you've ever visited this blog before i'm pretty sure you know how obsessed i am with sleepless in seattle, but here are the reasons why.
when i was 12 i babysat for a really great family i met through church. the mom was in her late 20s and so stylish, funny, and cool -- i wanted to be just like her. i watched her adorable kids at least once a week but my favorite part was when they'd go to bed and i got to raid the mom's stellar collection of chick flicks. one day i stumbled upon sleepless in seattle on a rainy saturday afternoon and watched the entire thing, glued to the tv and this cute little meant-to-be love story.
from then on i'd catch sleepless in seattle whenever it was on tv and at least a few more times while babysitting. i bought my own DVD during my freshman year of college, watching it any time i needed a nice little break from reality. i watched it again and again during college as my roommates got married, one after another, and i just sat back wishing for my own love story to come along -- waiting in vain for boys to even ask me out on a DATE, let alone to marry them.
i fell in love with NYC, thanks to that movie. on my first visit to new york, the first place i wanted to go was the top of the empire state building to see where sam & annie met. i worked my butt off in college to qualify for the new york internship program, so i could go and live in nora's city -- a city that will be forever cemented in my brain the way she portrayed it in you've got mail. ("don't you love new york in the fall? it makes me want to buy school supplies.") b showed up at the top of the empire state building during that internship and asked me to marry him -- a move SO full of fate and destiny that it was the only thing that kept me committed when i was freaked beyond belief to get married. i've easily watched this film 100 times -- with b, by myself, during craft nights, on airplanes, and especially on rainy saturday afternoons. i can quote the entire thing verbatim and notice particular lines cropping up frequently in my everyday life. ("i should get a haircut...but then i'll look like i just got a haircut." i say this to b EVERY time he mentions a haircut.) moving to seattle was a breeze, even though i'd never been to washington before -- i already knew everything i needed to know about this city from sleepless in seattle.
i think the thing i like so much about sleepless in seattle -- and about all of nora ephron's work, for that matter -- is that there is such a thing as destiny. i firmly believe in kismet, fate, divine intervention, whatever you want to call it, and i believe that everything happens for a reason. i watch for signs every day that tell me i'm on the right or wrong track, and i love feeling like my life is part of some grand cosmic plan. (and yes, i named my business "kismet" because of this movie.) nora was my kindred spirit because she GOT this. and made me feel like i was okay for feeling that way.
through the years, sleepless in seattle has been my happy place... though i love the other ephron classics as well. i even have a whole theory about how you can define a woman based on her favorite nora ephron movie, but i'll save that for later.
the world lost a good one this week -- and i'm so glad i have her legacy to keep me company.
4 comments:
I love this! She knew how to do a chick flick. A piece of myself died with her.
Sweet tribute. I share your love of SIS, but for me -- You've Got Mail is it. That's the movie I own in 4 different formats. That's the movie I watch WAY too often. That's the movie I can quote in a COMA.
I want to hear your theory!
Love this heartfelt tribute. Thanks for making "Sleepless in Seattle" our family's swan song. I love to tell people the how's and why's of your engagement, all due to this wonderful movie. RIP Nora.
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