Movie Mother of the Month - Aurora

If you've never seen Terms of Endearment...what?!  You've never seen Terms of Endearment? Stop now and go watch it.  As I was saying...I spoil the whole movie here, so, be forewarned.

What can you say about Aurora?  What can you say about a mother who screams at her sleeping baby because  she wants to make sure she's still breathing?  Once the child wakes up and cries...she's says "That's better."  Okay, I never did that.  I never pinched or prodded my sleeping children to make sure they were still alive.  I did, however, stand over their cribs and watch their chests rise and fall.  I did follow behind them to make sure if they fell, I could break their fall.  So, I get it.

Aurora loves unconditionally...no doubt about it.  And she's fully expressed.  She tells daughter Emma on the eve of her wedding that she is making the biggest mistake of her life marrying Flap.  But, she never says I told you so when all her fears are realized.  Aurora saw Emma deserving every wonderful thing that life could offer.  She wanted so badly for Emma to have it.  But she also knew that Emma, was not Aurora.  That she didn't have the same high hopes for herself that her mother did.  Aurora had high expectations of life.  Emma did not.  It must be odd to look across the table and wonder who that person you gave life to...or that person who raised you...is.

  

Wow, you're saying, that was harsh. Yes, Aurora does not mince words. But, that's not why I love her. So, Emma does marry Flap, and Aurora is left...alone. She makes a valiant attempt at dating the astronaut next door.  She is obviously terrified.  I love the scene where she lies in bed with a glass of wine and a photo album of her former, younger, more beautiful self, screwing up her courage to sleep with the astronaut.  "I like the lights on." he tells her as they prepare for the deed..."Then go home and turn them on." she replies.  She lives on her own terms.

 

Once her and Emma's lives are  separate, they are able to connect on a different level.  Now it is Emma's turn to be disapproving and shocked as she details her sexual escapades with the astronaut.  Hilarious.  Perhaps she's enjoying this new friendly relationship more then Emma?

Oh, I see, they were co-dependent all along.  It was a relationship that worked.

Frustrating, overbearing, controlling...yes, she is all these things.  But, at the end of the day, Emma knew her mother would die for her. Somehow...they still managed to get it right.  They still talked by phone everyday.  Her mother was still the first one Emma called when she got sick.  Her mother was still the one sitting by her bedside everyday of her illness.  It was her mother that would throw her self-respect out the window if it meant one less minute of pain for her daughter.

 

Her mother allowed no one to speak ill of her daughter...even her little grandson...and it would be her mother that she waved goodbye to in her dying moment.

 

The end of the film sees Aurora taking Emma's three kids to raise.  The worst fear of her life has been realized, and she survived. You know she's going to be more open this time.  Oh, she's still going to be Aurora, and I'm sure those kids will have to put up with more 'splaining then they'd like to hear at times.  But, they'll never have a stronger advocate.  That's why I love Aurora.