u/PkmnTrainerArtie

I recently watched this movie again with my wife, this time at a Dolby Cinema and it's my favorite movie of the 2010s. I never had the chance to see it at a theater back in 2016 so I finally got to watch it on the big screen with its ending wrecking me all over again.

This movie belongs to my personal top 10 films of all time because it has similarities to my own life experiences. I had this high school sweetheart whom I wooed for several months back in the year 2000. I met her during first grade and she was my classmate until our final year in college. We became a couple at the age of 15, both young and carefree. We were an on and off couple that lasted until we were in our early 20s.

We both were dreamers. We both had a dream of working as nurses and building a family here in the US. Everything was already planned out for our supposed future. We were like a power couple during high school and college since we both used to do ballroom dancing and competed in dance sports. We often would sing duets in school programs too. We immediately became RNs right after graduating from college but worked separately.

I got invited to work at a review center while she worked as a volunteer RN at a government hospital. That's when we started to grow apart. She immediately started studying for the NCLEX-RN, which is the board exam for nurses here in the US while I was saving money for our future while working at different review centers for nurses. I had a lucrative career working at review centers and didn't bother with moving our dream forward. I coached her with the different nursing subjects we had every chance I got to be with her. She passed the exam and thanked me a lot for the help.

The time came when she finally was leaving the Philippines. She told me that our relationship wouldn't work out. She was weary whenever I was not around especially during the review seasons for nurses. What more when we were thousands of miles apart. I reminded her of our dream of building a family in the US and that I was finally ready. She told me that it was too late. That I should've prioritized our relationship over my career. I begged her to stay but she said goodbye. I was devastated. I was wrecked for years.

Close to 2 decades later, I'm now married with 3 kids, she suddenly sent me a friend request on Facebook and sent me a message. My heart that day was pounding hard and my mind was flooded with memories of our past. Her Facebook profile showed that she is already married and has 4 kids. She then sent me a message asking how I was. I told her that all is well. She asked me if I still have the desire of working in the US. I said yes since I'm already sick of the government and working conditions in the Philippines. She pushed me and my wife (she knows my wife and was classmates with her back in college) to apply at the group of hospitals she was working with. Sent me all the links and everything. Coached me with all the ins and outs of pursuing the American dream.

Now my family and I are here in the US working as nurses all because of her. It was a happy ending for both of us albeit not ending up with each other. I'm still thankful for all of the things she did for us. We remain as friends and work at different states here in the US. All is well.

I'm taking a break from my Wheel of Time book-a-thon. Which one would you recommend for me to read next?

I'm glad to score tickets for La La Land 10th anniversary! It's my favorite film of the 2010s and it was an emotional roller-coaster for me since it parallels my own life story. She was the one who helped me achieve the wins I have in life today even though we have our own families now. But I was happy for what we had and we still remained friends after all that. That's why this movie is so memorable for me. It is my chance to see it on the big screen this time since I didn't have the chance back in 2016.

Edit: Grammar

Mine was The Wizard of Oz. I read it when I was 5 after watching the movie on Betamax. It started my reading journey. Next books I read were Peter Pan, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and The Little Prince. I've also read a lot of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew during my elementary years.

I started reading The Wheel of Time back when I was 17 in the early 2000s. Living in Pangasinan did not give me the luxury of finding the rest of the volumes of the series. I read the first 8 books from 2003 to 2018 which is a long time itself. I'm now living in the US and ordered all of these through Amazon. Still getting through the "slog" books. But for me, it's still one of the best fantasy series I've read. Hoping to see a satisfying ending to this gargantuan fantasy series.