unsung heroes, et alia

This is Mama.

The photograph was taken by me at least thirty years ago, maybe longer.

It sits atop my entertainment center, as it has for years.

Kindly notice the sweater she is wearing.

That had been one of three sweaters I owned in the early 1980's.

I had liked the pattern so much that I bought it in three colors: the yellow one she borrowed from me; one with a pale blue; and another with a nice lavender hue.

 

So, why is this of importance now?

That same sweater showed up today in one of my Tina Tuesday choices.

In fact, it appeared in that middle movie in my AMC A*List trio, "Unsung Hero".

The film is based on a true story from the early 1990's, about the Smallbone family, that came from Australia to Nashville, Tennessee, with the promise of a new job for the father, a music promoter who had fallen on hard times.

By coincidence, Mama had very nearly moved us to Australia in 1974, after she and Daddy got divorced, but she changed her mind.

By coincidence, that title song was about Helen, the mother of 7 Smallbone children, six of which had made that trans-Pacific journey, with her pregnant with the 7th.

By coincidence, that yellow and white striped sweater with the three flowers on the front showed up on Kay Albright, another mother, having a discussion with mother Helen.

I couldn't help saying to Barbara, "I had that sweater."

It truly shocked me.

Right place, right time.

 

I hadn't known anything about the music artists in the movie.

One of the Smallbone sons, Joel, played the dad in the movie (as well as directed, cowrote, and produced), but he has stated that the movie is about their mom.

Joel and his brother Luke are the two in For King & Country, a Christian pop duo that essentially began in 2007 (when they just went by their names).

They grew up singing background and writing music for their sister, Rebecca St. James.

I do hope my brothers will go see this one.

 

Mi amiga had not stayed for the second "based on real story" movie of my double header.

She'd already seen "The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare", so I had the company of another lone viewer.

This one was full of real names I didn't know, except that of Winston Churchill.

Derived from some of his files which were declassified in 2016, it followed the mission of a group of men who were unofficially tasked with removing the threat of German U-boats from the Atlantic Ocean, at least temporarily, so the USA could send help to England.

Very good action movie!

However, the joy for me was seeing Henry Cavill in action again.

I had so enjoyed him in "Argyle" that I saw that movie three times, just for his incredible smile that goes all the way up to his twinkling eyes!

By the way, he'll be 41 on May 5, as he was born the same year as my first niece.

(smile!)

 

The other movie, "Challengers", was seen on Friday, on the Big D, as it just started.

Zendaya, who seems to be in quite a few movies of late, played a villainous role.

As I told Tom afterward, in the Navy, we would have called her character, "Tashi Duncan", a cock teaser, as she played two longtime friends against each other for her affections.

Truly abominable character.

However, the tennis matches were quite thrilling!

Bear in mind, I don't watch sports on TV, except for ice skating.

So, for me to say the tennis was thrilling means the sport shone in this movie.

It was really nice to see Mike Faist again, as this was such a different role from that of 'Riff' in "West Side Story".

Quite talented!!!

And what awaited me in the mail?

This latest newsletter from Ocean Conservancy, with the title of the lead story catching me.

"Unsung Heroes" - a variation on the movie I had seen earlier today.

Truly, a message from Mama, for me.

i thank You, God.