“To all the ships at sea….and all the ports of call. To my family…and to all friends and strangers. This is a message and a prayer. The message is that my travels taught me a great truth. I already had what everyone is searching for…and few ever find: The one person in the world who I was born to love forever. A person like me, of the Outer Banks and the blue Atlantic mystery. A person rich in simple treasures…self-made, self taught. A harbor where I am forever home. And no wind or trouble…or even a little death can knock down this house. The prayer is that everyone in the world can know this kind of love…and be healed by it. if my prayer is heard, then there will be an erasing of all guilt…and all regret….and an end to all anger.”
Please God.
Amen.
This letter is one of many featured in the book and film “Message in a Bottle”, by Nicholas Sparks. My affinity for his novels is no secret. One might say that I am a bit obsessed really. Yes, believe it or not, I am a women who basks in the glory of a good love story. And he certainly knows how to write one.
As I am often inspired by the little things in life, I find the idea of sending out a “message in a bottle” enthralling. Sending a feeling out to the unknown with no finite knowledge of its destination or reaction. Who will it reach? And in this particular instance, is it possible for the person who finds that message to feel the same way? Is that kind of love tangible?
As little girls we all dream of the fairytale romance. The knight in shinning armor rescuing us from the dragon and holding us in their arms for eternity. Although I rarely run across many dragons I cannot handle myself, I still remember the anticipation of meeting my “soul mate”. The one person in the world you are meant to love forever, and that no matter where you are in life, they will find you.
Childish? Perhaps. Possible?
What is it about women that makes us need the fairytale? Isn’t it possible to have “many” soul mates, in all different ports, and let dependence on which one we dock at determine our fate?
Most men find all of this talk ridiculous and redundant. I do not blame them. It is a topic highly overdone. But lets look at it from a different standpoint. Take Nicholas Sparks for example. The past three novels of his that were made into films were box office GOLD. “The Notebook”, “Message in a Bottle”, and “Nights in Rodanthe” all had women FLOCKING like wild geese to the theaters. The numbers that his films generate, keep studio executives in high pants, and women all over the world believing in fairytales.
Listen, I don’t necessarily think that i am going to find a letter on the beach from a man across the country to his dead wife, and then meet him and fall in love with each other 🙂 . But I do believe in love. Whether it comes in the form we once dreamed of or not. People are meant to be with other people. We are meant to mate, and nurture, and quarrel and hurt. It is nature at it’s best. And if you are smart enough to follow your own inner compass in the right direction…..I believe anything is possible.
Until then…..we always have Nicholas Sparks..
Dear Catherine,
My life began when I found you, and I thought it had ended when I failed to save you. I thought that hanging on to your memory was keeping us both alive…but I was wrong. A women named Theresa showed me that if I was brave enough to open my heart, I could love again….no matter how terrible my grief. She made me realize I was only half-alive. It scared me and it hurt. I didn’t know how much I needed her till the night she flew away. When that airplane took off I felt something inside me tear away, and I knew I should have stopped her…..I should have followed her home. And now…tomorrow…I am going to sail to the windy point, and I am going to say goodbye to you. Them i am going to this woman and see if I can win her heart. If I can….I know you will bless me….And bless us all. If I can’t, then I am still blessed because I had the privilege of loving twice in my life. She gave me that. And if I tell you that I love her as much as I loved you…….then you’ll know the whole story. Rest in peace my love.
Garret
www.nicholassparks.com
Posted in Love, Men, Movies, Women
Tags: Kevin Costner, Message in a Bottle, Nicholas Sparks, Nights in Rodanthe, Outer Banks, Robin Wright Penn, The Notebook
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