A lesson in love

A good friend once asked me, "What is life without people to walk with you through thick and thin, through hell and high water?"

Indeed, as the cliché go, no man is an island. Or as the lyrics of a song go, "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world." I believe that we are all born to live with others... and for others.

This is the message that Mandy Moore’s Jamie and Shane West’s Landon characters remind me every time I feel like turning on my VCD player and watching the feel-good movie, A Walk to Remember.

More than the obvious needs "to love and be loved," and simply "to live in order to survive," to inspire others and to be inspired by others is what this movie reminds us of. This is why I never get tired of watching this movie over and over – it helps me feel grateful for those people who, in one way or another, have made my life meaningful, apart from the fact that they’ve helped me realize some of my little dreams.

Dreaming – or should I say, anticipating something greater in life– is what Landon lacks. A typical boy-next-door, Landon is also a popular high school student. He is happiest hanging out with his friends, and sometimes being flattered by high school girls. His character reflects teen-agers who are awed by their independence, by their I’m-still-young and there’s-still-tomorrow attitudes.

Such an attitude has gotten Landon into trouble with authorities. Landon may seemingly ooze with much confidence, but he lacks strong values.

Playing "villain" to Shane’s character is Mandy’s Jamie, the pastor’s only child. Jamie is Landon’s antithesis; she is well-bred, prayerful, lives a simple life, excels in her studies and dreams of one thing – to witness a miracle.

The hostile "childhood" neighbors and schoolmates meet and have the chance to participate in a school play. While preparing for the play, Landon and Jamie rediscover each other. The ruggedly handsome Landon is not really the bad boy he projects himself to be, while the seemingly plain-looking Jamie is really a beauty. They fall in love and fight for their love. But more than that Jamie inspires Landon to become a better person and to follow his dream of entering medical school.

As in real life, one can’t be on top and happy all the time. Jamie reveals to Landon that she has cancer and has not been responding to treatment. This does not stop them from loving and moving on. The two get married but Jamie dies. Landon goes on with his life... with Jamie’s love as inspiration.

Given so much to accomplish these days, we forget to say "thank you" or to acknowledge people who do simple things for us. We also look for "big things" in the hopes they will make us happy and content. This movie tells us that what we need is someone to appreciate what we have. People do not have to see real "miracles" to be moved or to be motivated. We only need loved ones we can live with and talk with so we might learn and use their lessons as we journey through life.

Simple advices from our parents and even strangers should not be disregarded. Though they may at times seem preachy, they just might contain some gold nuggets of wisdom we can use. Anyway, the decision is still up to us.

The movie has also successfully shown that whether it be a stranger or a long-time friend, there’s always a reason why a person comes to us at a particular moment. Likewise, we also have a purpose for being in other people’s lives. Through each other, we come to understand life.

That’s why, more than the actors who have played their characters well, I’m very thankful to the director, producers and screenwriters who pooled their ideas to create this movie.

Life is a big web which consists of small interconnected webs representing each of us. And we will never have these connections without "love."

As Jamie and Landon recite in their wedding scene: "Love is patient and kind. It is never jealous." And in another scene, they say, "Love is like the wind. You can’t see it, but you can feel it."