Mom, Dad, and grandchildren
Last night the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre launched opening night of their annual European Union Film Showcase by screening the Polish film Walesa: Man of Hope. I was less than enthusiastic about going. First, I wasn’t an admirer of Walesa, who, like a lot of the great leaders of his generation, wasn’t particularly enlightened about woman’s place in the world. And I wouldn’t get home and into bed until almost midnight and would have to get up at 5:00 a.m. (I’m also not a fan of foreign films because I’m too lazy to read subtitles. It took my husband weeks to convince me that Life is Beautiful was a film worth seeing despite the subtitles.)
But I can’t begin to count the times my husband has cheerfully accompanied me to events he has no interest in, including the first prom ever at a new school where I was on the opening year staff. And it isn’t often that my Polish husband has the opportunity to attend an event that honors a heritage that is more often the butt of offensive jokes.