A Kite Runner Connection

"I dream that my son will grow up to be a good person, a free person. I dream that someday you will return to revisit the land of our childhood. I dream that flowers will bloom in the streets again... and kites will fly in the skies!"~Older Hassan

Last year, I made contact with a good friend, Ed, of mine from high school whom I hadn't seen in about fourteen or so years. Actually, he made contact with me by stopping by my home one day.

Ed's visit had be precipitated by what had come before. Earlier that year I had read in the newspaper that his brother (whom I had know slightly less well, but had been drining with before) had died in a car accident, after living something of a troubled life.

After seeing his name in the paper and making the connection, I made a point of stopping by the funeral home after work during calling hours to pay my respects. Ed had not been at the funeral home at the time, or if he had been (I surmised) I might not have recognized him. This is how Ed came to be at my home... he had seen my name on the funeral home ledger and, after a period of time, came by to say hello. It was initially awkward, but for some reason I recall Ed mentioning the novel The Kite Runner, and recommending it to me. (I thought this odd as it was what I perceived to be a "literature" book and Ed had always presented himself as someone who maybe didn't read a lot of literature.

I never did get around to reading the book, but this past weekedn watched the film.

Based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner is directed by Marc Forster and stars Khalid Abdalla and Homayoun Ershadi. I'm not sure how closely the movie follows the film, but the film in and of itself is a wonderful piece of movie making worth the time. The message of forgiveness and the lasting impact of childhood memories and relationships is, itself, timeless.



Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!