I think of Joe as the
sweetest man I’ve ever known. He calls himself a “Grumpy Old Fart.” At one
point he even had a sign in the machine shop at work with the letters GOFF.
When asked he told me it was the acronym for Grumpy Old Fart. I told him that
was GOF, and he told me it looked better with two Fs.
Anyway, there definitely are
similarities between Joe and Otto. The first is their interest in anything
mechanical. There were scenes throughout the movie when Joe would turn to me
and give me a ‘Joe smile’. I can’t call it a grin. The smile meant, “This seems
familiar.” Another similarity is Joe’s willingness
to help others when they are clear in their need. And, of course, Joe loves to
teach people how to take care of or fix items. There is a scene in the film
where Otto shows a young man how to repair the chain on a bicycle. Over the 29
years I’ve been married to Joe, I have watched this same scene play out over
and over as he instructed our children, neighbor children, and other people to
fix their bikes.
As much as I was watching
the movie, I was watching Joe’s response to the film. A major breakthrough was
that he did not fall asleep during the film! Now this could be he was entertained,
or it may be a sign that he is finally not sleep deprived after a few weeks of
retirement.
A Man Called Otto is a
beautiful movie. I laughed aloud, I cried. It was a perfect reminder that all
of us can and do make a difference in the lives of the people around us – people
we care about and perfect strangers.
Tomorrow, I plan to write
about a wonderful first novel written by Noel Meyer.
Beth - I love that you watched Joe as much as you watched the film! Lovely description of both. I'm putting this on my list. Thanks for sharing!
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