ONE OF MY GREATEST MEMORIES

          While I am uncertain of the exact timeframe, this story had to take place in 2002 because that is when THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING was released on DVD. In our house at the time, in the living room both a couch and love seat shared one wall bisected by a hallway door which lead to the back bedrooms. If my timeframe was accurate, that would put my oldest son Alex at around six or maybe seven. So I am down for watching a movie and I am relaxing by watching the first installment of THE LORD OF THE RINGS.  

It is that point where Gandalf has taken on the Balrog in Khazah Dum, is snagged by his ankle, says to the group, “Fly, you fools!” and plunges into the abyss. As the leader of the fellowship, the uninitiated cannot imagine that such a pivotal character could be lost so early. Elijah Wood’s performance as Frodo is quite heart wrenching. And when you combine that Howard Shore’s incredible music for the event, you cannot help but get a little misty eyed.

So here I am happy as clam, enjoying the movie, and after the scene has concluded, Alex shows up at the couch and gives me a hug. Now, I am happy because I love what we called “uninitiated hugs.” I even said that as I returned his embrace. It took me a few moments to realize…

Alex had come into the living room and was watching from the love seat but I had not realized it because I was lying down. And then I realized he was on the verge of tears and that bottom lip was quivering. “Oh, Alex. Are you upset because Gandalf fell?”

And that is when the dam burst. I held him close and rubbed the back of his head, combing my fingers through his hair… And I could not muffle my smile. I calmly assured him, “Oh, son, don’t worry. He comes back.”

Years later, we would watch the entire trilogy as father and son. And, yes, we watched the full Special Extended Editions. Without THE LORD OF THE RINGS, you have no Dungeons & Dragons, no Drizzt Do’Urden, no World of Warcraft, no really fantasy genre as we know it today. And for that, I am eternally grateful because that genre is kind of my bread and butter.

So, if you went to see THE DARK KNIGHT RISES in theaters this weekend, hopefully, you caught the trailer for MAN OF STEEL. If you did, the music that plays in the trailer is from that scene. I love that scene and I love that my son was so stirred by it emotionally that he needed the embrace of his father… and here it is, almost a full decade later, and he still needs the embrace of his father from time to time. I hope he – and all three of my children – never outgrows it…