Not So Different After All

I am constantly saying how I have a hard time connecting with Sarah because we are so different.  She is so dramatic and I am not (except thinking about it now my mom will probably tell you I was a pretty dramatic teenager).  She is so closed and unwilling to share or tell us what is wrong or bothering her and I'll tell the grocery cashier what's driving me crazy today.  She is very artsy and I am more mathematical.  There's so much more I can't explain or put my finger on.  However, this weekend my perspective changed a little bit.

Charlie was out of town so I took the kids to the movies to see Cinderella.  It was wonderfully done, and is the same basic story that we know and love, but has a few very sad parts.  I sat in my seat silently wiping the tears from my cheeks.  Amanda sat next to me and Sarah was on the other side of her, bawling.  Not just crying a little bit, sobbing.  So much so that the lady in front of her kept turning around to see if she was okay.  At one point I leaned over and said, "you know how this story ends, why are you crying?", to which she replied, "it's so sad".

It was sad, and it warranted a cry.  Maybe not a sobbing, blubbering cry, but a cry nonetheless.  And that's when I looked at her and thought maybe we aren't so different after all.  We may show our anger or frustrations a little differently and may express ourselves in unique ways, but deep down we are both sentimental softies.  I see it in Andy sometimes too.

Of all the qualities I have, I'm glad that's one of the ones they got from me.  Not the anger or the craziness or the horrible sense of direction, but the ability to empathize and show some compassion for another human being who is hurting.

She may just turn out okay.