OF FILMS AND FAMILY

`````It's been another one of those weeks; really horrific headaches and I cannot seem to get anything done now that I am on my days off. Instead, I am wasting my time lounging about on Youtube. I had found myself remembering, somewhere in the very distant firings of my mind, a film that I had watched with my Great Aunt. I decided to look it up to see if it was posted.

`````As with specific songs and smells, a movie can sometimes be more then an actual viewing event. This film was a lesson from my God Mother. She was a fan of Diahann Carroll; she had once gone into the city to watch the film at a movie theatre beside the Woolworths. I'd once seen a film with her there, and we'd lunched at the counter prior to the film starting. I loved these outings, for there was a wonderful wicker store across the street which featured exotic wares such as Hawaiian leis and fans. When we went to the department store, I'd always make sure to get little foil packages of free perfume samples. I'd insert these into my jewellery box, where they'd scent the twirling ballerina for months to come.

`````I looked forward to spending the nights with my Great Aunt and Uncle. They were truly wonderful, warm humans. They lived next door to us, and were surrogate grandparents, as mine were so far away from us. My Great Aunt was a firm believer in the healing powers of ginger ale and more food. When she died, her receipee for her sweet buns with the delicate filling went with her. She'd only ever had one son, and I wish I'd taken the time to ask her.

`````On one of my visits, we settled down to watch "Claudine" and I was taught that this lovely actress had difficulty getting her own television show. Some people didn't approve of the colour of her skin, and couldn't see her in any role but that of a maid. When "Julia" first aired on tv, there was concern that sponsers wouldn't be found and that the public would not accept a black woman as a nurse.

`````It might seem that my Great Aunt, being the mother of one child, would have nothing in common with the role embodied by Ms Carroll in the film, yet she came from a family of nine children herself and they were hardly well to do at the time of their youth. I grew up listening to them talk and debate politics. The radio was firmly set on the local talk radio channel, with one host being the favourite. Even when my Great Uncle died, well into his eighties, his mind was sharp and his funeral was attended by the local politician he still volunteered for. As a child I heard them speak of the people they respected; local politicians such as Rosemary Brown, who was the first black woman in Canada to hold elected office, and Dave Barrett, a social worker from corrections who became the Premier of the province. Politics and fairness was their passion, but not in the way that so many people assume that mantle. Far too many think that they know best and they need to fix the problems of the poor. That means they perceive themselves as superior or as social workers. No....these were just people who cared. They'd worked hard, really emphatized and knew the solution wasn't to have more overpaid guys in suits doing more studies.

`````So, I settled in and watched "Claudine" and thought of my relatives, both gone. There are so many of these magical little moments with people. Sometimes, they may be squeezed between commercial breaks, as surely as as I was caught between my Aunt and the end of that large old couch. But, they exist and we need to clasp onto them while we can.