The Notebook

ABCFamily has started playing a few holiday movies, and in my attempt to look ahead on the TV schedule and record some holiday movies to watch this season, I was able to catch "The Notebook" and schedule it to record.

"The Notebook" is probably my most favorite movie (tied with "The Wizard of Oz," "Mary Poppins," and "The Sound of Music!") - and the reason it's my favorite is mostly due to its sentimental value. The story of Alli and Noah is so close to my heart -

I remember an evening nearly 4 years ago, when I sat in my parents basement (before it was "Club Bob") and watched "The Notebook" for the very first time. I was dating someone other than Zig at the time - but found myself in tears for most of the movie because I knew at that moment that Zig was 'my Noah,' and that somehow, some way, we would find each other again.

The story of young but very true love was a reminder that the love Zig and I had was real from the beginning. It never mattered where we were, or who we were seeing at the time, Zig and I always came back to each other.

Throughout our college years, Zig and I were apart for close to 4 years - but it never seemed to change the fact that he was my first and truest love. Somehow, my thoughts always came back to him. No matter how many people told me that we would get back together - I fought it - and I continued to date other people who I thought I was meant to be with, and maybe even marry!

In the movie, the very moment that Alli accepts the proposal of Lan, the extremely rich southern gentleman, Noah's face popped into her head. I remember having many of those moments while dating the two other men I was with. Many, MANY times, I found myself comparing them to Zig - never speaking my thoughts - but wondering what a situation would have been like with him instead of them.

We always had contact with each other -
I remember a day during the summer of 2004... I was working as a waitress at a local restaurant and as far as I knew, Zig was living life on his own... During my break, he called my cell phone from OUT WEST! This was very Zig-like! Even though we were both dating other people, we talked quite often... He called to tell me he was moving to South Carolina to pursue his dream of moving 'away' and building a new life at CCU... He called me when he had made the decision to move back home... He called me to warn me about rumors that were circling about me... For whatever reason, things were never 'over' with us - no matter how hard we tried to fight it.

In January 2005, when Brandon and Amanda were getting married, and Zig and I were both in the wedding party, we spent the night celebrating our friends and ended up rekindling a flame that had never truly died.

There is a moment in the movie when Alli and Noah are falling in love on southern beaches, splashing in the waves and watching seagulls dive for fish. Alli decides that if she were to die and be reincarnated - she would come back as a bird! She flaps her arms and 'caws' like a bird as Noah laughs and thinks she's crazy! Alli insists that Noah agree that she could be a bird and makes him announce that she, in fact, is a bird! His love for her brings him to this realization:
"If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

At that moment of the movie, I looked at my husband and said "Ziggy, if you're a bird, I'm a bird." He smiled and said "See...that's why I love you so much! I have the best wife ever!"

We then started talking about what that really meant and I told him about the day I cried as I watched this movie and thought only of him. As we thought about how far we've really come in the 11 years we've known each other - and the best part of our lives together - all we could do was look at our gorgeous daughter and say "and look what we have now."

So - My dearest Ziggy -
If you're a bird, I'm a bird - for the rest of our lives, I love you! Thank you for loving me and for the greatest gift of all - our daughter.



Alli: I was afraid you were never coming back.
Noah: I'll always come back.
Alli: What's going to happen when I can't remember anything anymore? What will you do?
Noah: I'll be here - I'll never leave you.
Alli: I need to ask you something.
Noah: What is it, sweetheart?
Alli: Do you think that our love could create miracles?
Noah: Yes I do. That's what brings you back to me each time.
Alli: Do you think our love could take us away together?
Noah: I think our love can do anything we want it to.
Alli: I love you.
Noah: I love you, darling.
Alli: Goodnight.
Noah: Goodnight. I'll be seeing you...