My Sister's Keeper

I went to see My Sister's Keeper tonight. I've been kind of picky about who I would go see it with, I knew it had to be someone who wouldn't care if I cried. My friend Meredith from high school is back in DE for awhile, so we went together. I read the book a few years ago (and re-read it last month in anticipation of seeing the movie), so I knew the basic story line. Of course, I cried, however, most of my tears were not because of the actual movie or story line.

There is a moment in the movie where Kate, the 14 year old with leukemia, is in her hospital bed, and her mother, played by Cameron Diaz, is laying with her, sobbing and they are just holding each other. The part that really got me is that, after that scene was shot, Cameron Diaz probably got up, grabbed a bottle of water and went to read lines for her next scene. The fact that she has never had to be the mother of a child with cancer just hit me in a way that made me upset. At first, I was so happy that this book was being made into a movie- I loved the book when I read it, even though I was reading it at a very hard time (Right around the time that Liam took a turn for the worse, and passed away a few days before Thanksgiving 2005). However, watching that scene, it almost made me want to stand up and scream, "Does she even know what it's like?!?" I cannot say that I myself know what it is like to have a child with cancer, but the fact that Cameron Diaz has no idea at all is what struck me as odd and sad.

I guess it's a hard topic. I was not even related to Liam, however, I watched as he went through chemo treatments, trials, radiation, surgeries... Liam's fight was not as long as some others, but it was brave all the same. I do not pretend that I could ever know what it is like to lose a child, sibling, grandparent, or parent to cancer. But, Liam was someone who I loved, someone who I was close to, and even though we were not related by blood, my sister and I shared a very special bond with Liam as his babysitters.

I guess I'm just trying to say that even though it upset me to think about Cameron Diaz not ever really knowing - maybe she does, in a way. Maybe she's lost someone important in her life to cancer, and that is enough to make her appreciate her role. Even though the girl who played Kate will grow her hair back with no problem and her "bruises" were scrubbed away with body wash, perhaps she knows what it's like too.

Time to get some sleep, I have a lot to do tomorrow. I'm missing Liam a lot tonight.