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Oh, the Joy and Beauty1 By Nancy “Scrooge.”
The word played with its shadow while he feigned resignation.
“In August.” She could see only his
eyes, where he’d lowered the New York Times
Week in Review section, the
one he always read first on a Sunday afternoon.
Those eyes were laughing. “A tale for all seasons …”
she moralized, turned serious. “Do
you mind, Love?” Her
expression reflected the sweet certainty of his answer.
He folded the papers. “Of course not.
Here … I’ll get the VCR ready.
Come and sit. Should
we lower the thermostat for the air conditioner … perfect the mood?” “You’re teasing me,” she
pretend-pouted. “Only a little.
Ah, Albert Finney.
The singing and dancing …
the joy and beauty.’ “Will you join the chorus?” “I seem to recall a similar
conversation the last time we watched this … was it in April?” “Probably … and you didn’t
sing.” “I may
hum occasionally.
I do not sing.” Performing for her
theatrical stare he conceded, “Well, perhaps some words set to melody do
escape me … on that very rare occasion …” She grinned then, a full,
happy glowing. “Perhaps
… indeed! But, okay, I’ll
neither beg nor anticipate your vocal performance during the movie.
Just watching.
Listening. And enjoying.
Together.” “Your parents left you this
rather … unusual … tradition, you know…Christmas Carol in summer.
Fall. Spring.
And December.” “You’re not bored, are
you?” “Nine, I think, and there’s
ever hope for more.” He squeezed her close.
“My Love. My
Optimist. My Christmas
Carol Fan.” ~ At the exultant ending,
Ebenezer, reformed and redeemed by Jacob Marley and the other Christmas
Spirits, closes his front door, eager to “…
get ready for Christmas dinner with my family.”
That left the camera to charm viewers with the final scene: a
lion-head doorknocker sporting a white moustache and beard and a
fur-trimmed-red-velvet Santa
Claus hat. They sat through the
scrolling credits because she loved the lyrics that celebrated in
accompaniment. “Vincent … you are the joy
and beauty of my life.” He leaned forward, kissed
her lips with the barest touch.
“Joy and beauty is all around us.
Sometimes it can be hard to recognize when one feels …
alone.
That’s what Scrooge learned from
his guests. ” “Are you saying I’m your
Jacob Marley?” “Perhaps.
How does that make you feel?” “Not very glamorous.
Terrible hair.
Necessary?” He raised her hands, held
them against his chest.
“For me, there is beauty in everything, Catherine … in the strength of
the stone walls Below … the shifting dust of the tunnel floors … in a
stormy day beyond these windows … our garden when winter frosts each
bush, each separate and amazing blade of grass, sets them to sparkle in
the sun. Our love …
glorifies … every view as I
turn to look … my only need is for more of you … ever more …
When I see what I’ve been given,
all that is laid out before me to cherish or
disdain
as I might choose … I realize
the choice is… gone …
Is that not wonderful!
Our Scrooge learned to refuse the possibility of negative choice
and that’s why he could be happy.” “Vincent, your capacity to
appreciate … You dwell in that place where life is true … where it’s
lived in honesty. When I
first saw you, I knew that every word you’d shared with me in those days
you cared for me was from your beautiful heart.
Life is joy for you because it’s how you form it, as it becomes
part of you. You
claim … life … in joy and
beauty. You’ve always lived
that way … before you ever found me.
You’ve never needed a Marley.” “Was there a
before
you, Catherine?” He touched the remote to
darken the screen and a new light blazed as he took her into his arms. “I will forever need you.” Love.
Rejoicing.
Perfected. Oh, the joy and beauty! 1
“Scrooge”
1970
Musical score by Leslie Bricusse
This is really for us, H |