Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

Rest in peace, Patrick Swayze











Yes, it would have been more elegant to pick just one picture, but I couldn't. With each one I saw - and many others I didn't choose - I started to hear the song that was playing during the movie and lines of dialog sprang to life. I watched this movie with my parents, with my sister, with my girlfriends. I talked about it with a coworker who grew up in Slovakia and still watched it 50 times before she turned 14 and played the soundtrack over and over and over like I did. It was just one of those films.

And I'm so grateful to my parents. They took seriously their charge to protect my young mind, but weren't scared off by the title of the movie and knew that I was old enough at 13 to handle some adult themes and talk them through. I'd have missed out on a lot if they just said, "NO!" Because I wasn't the kind of kid who'd rebel and just see it at a friend's house.

And I say that even though I won't let four year old Betty Boop watch Hannah Montana because she already walks around the house in a tiara with a microphone and I don't need to encourage that. Parenting is all about judgment calls.

Thanks for the magic, Patrick!