Everyone knows what you are supposed to do with lemons.

 

There is the unspoken assumption that lemonade is a second class beverage. Yet I find it wonderfully refreshing on a hot day.

 

I watched a movie last night that could have been subtitled, "Make Lemonade". But that would not have added to the movie's appeal so it is a good thing it wasn't. It was called "One True Thing" and it was a tough movie. The daughter was bitter, the circumstances were painful, the ending left me lying awake in the darkness. 

 

But the story it told was a real one... one that should have a sacred place in our hearts as we traverse this complicated journey called marriage. 

 

The wife is played by Meryl Streep, and she and her daughter Ellen can barely carry on a conversation without sparks. The daughter's life has its own bitterness, as she is a writer in the cutthroat environment of New York. Her mother has a life that could also be described as sour, given that her husband breaks a few marital rules. He is egocentric, unfaithful, and has never inconvenienced himself to help his family. Yet his wife chooses to splash sugary sweetness liberally through her difficulties, and dilutes the loneliness with joy. Her daughter finds this unpalatable. Ellen thinks her mother is naive and foolish to pretend that she is happy, but she gradually realizes that her mother is wise enough to have chosen happiness. 

Photo by Briene Lermitte

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