Find Your Own Way

Last night I saw the most phenomenal movie, Reign Over Me. The film tells the story of two college roommates (Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler) who find one another after years of separation. Charlie (Adam Sandler) lost his entire family in the September 11th attacks, they were on one of the planes that crashed into the twin towers in New York. Since the attack, Charlie has fallen into his own painful world of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, so painful that he cannot even bear to share his story. I cannot do the story justice, but I can tell you, you must see this movie.

I was overcome in the theater during the scene when Charlie is finally moved to tell his story. It is a fictional story, of a family that never existed, and was never lost. But in those minutes, in that theater, we all shared in this particular story. There was a silence different from all other kinds of quiet. As Charlie spoke of where he was when the news hit, we all recalled where we were, because the family may be fictional, but the tragedy is not. We found ourselves on common ground.

I had just arrived at work at Dorchester Habitat for Humanity and was in front of a TV in time to see the second tower hit. I sat in a friend's living room hearing of the Pentagon, rumors of the Mall in Washington on fire, and a crash in Pennsylvania. I was on the phone with my brother when the second tower collapsed and delayed a call to my sister all day out of fearful anticipation of what I might be told, her sister-in-law lives in Manhattan.

The writers, directors, actors, and all involved in the film gave it authenticity and respect that others have failed miserably to find in their own attempts to recap that horrifc day. It speaks to the importance of telling our story and the value of finding your own way. I cannot beg you enough, see this movie.

See this movie.