I was barely thirteen when I first saw that movie. It was magical sitting in that darkened theater watching a great love bloom. Then mere moments later, I found myself perched anxiously on the edge of the seat as the story unfolded, and the characters fell apart when they found out her diagnosis was terminal.
The emotion that poured off that screen first filled my heart with joy, then fear, and finally, a deep sadness. The actors’ passion spoke volumes, projecting deeply personal moments of intimacy, which poured out of the screen and filled the entire theater with a sense of longing.
At the end, the theater sat silent for what felt like an eternity, but most likely consisted of only a few moments. And then, everyone drifted quietly out, silently lost in their own thoughts as they headed home.
That story, that passion, that emotion has stuck with me for decades.
Yet, nothing prepares you for the ending. You hold on to every little scrap of hope, every little moment. You are filled with a deep anticipation of longing… longing for a miracle, anticipating the moment when the world will right itself again, the moment joy will flow out like a raging river. Yet, these moments never came. The ending became the reality. The ending became the truth.
That portrayal of a tragic love story spoke volumes of the reality of life, of the imperfection within our humanity. Its reality is one that we pray our emotions will only express while we’re watching it on the big screen.
It is so easy to be drawn in to the story of one great love that surpasses all understanding. It is easy to watch two beautiful people fall in love on the big screen. One never anticipates the ending… nor the middle of the story. We only want to experience the joy, the desire, the magic of true love.
In that theater, I felt every emotion as two people’s lives cascaded with joy, fell into despondency, then acceptance, and finally, that last goodbye. Less than two hours on a very emotional rollercoaster leaves one breathless.
In the film, the main characters were perfect and beautiful. Their love story felt epic and touched my heart deeply. After all these years, I can still feel that sense of desire. I still feel the deep, sensual love between the two characters. Everyone could feel joy bursting out of the screen as the characters experienced their first moments falling in love. It escalated and swelled as that roller coaster of emotion swept over the audience. Then it rolled on, and on, and on. At one point it felt as if the track just disappeared as the characters stared down into a chasm of despair. A feeling of disbelief filled the space within the theater. A sigh, a tear, a moment of contemplation rolled through the aisles. And in the end, the pain experienced by the two lovers overwhelmed the audience. Faces became wet with tears, tissues appeared out of purses and pockets, and the world walked at a slower gait as moviegoers trudged out of the theater.
Moments later, their lives brightened as they stepped back into the comfort of their own lives.
I remember crying as Ali Macgraw’s character passed into the light, and O’neal sat holding her as she took her last breath. This moment held too much emotion to experience within such a short amount of time, especially for a young, vulnerable teen.
I look back at this movie and remember that roller coaster ride. It was one of the first times I’d felt and experienced the many emotions of true love, albeit, in a movie.
Sometimes, an emotionally charged movie, such as Love Story, fills you with high expectations of what true love is. Then you find yourself seeking and searching for that special soul who completes you. Many, many years later, I found my Ryan O’Neal, my true love. In the short years we had together, I felt treasured. My love story fulfilled and completed me. Yet, unexpectedly, our love story ended just as unexpectedly as the movie had. The reality of such loss cannot be compared to the big screen. For you cannot merely walk out of the theater and continue your everyday life. It takes time to synthesize all the emotion and overcome the grief. Yet, as time goes by, I know that true love does last forever… even if it’s only in one’s heart.❤️
Blessings,
Susan K. Earl
So…You Want to Write a Book 