Dear Executive Producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition":
Thank you for reminding me I am a highly emotional female. I was starting to get a little concerned as I rarely cry in the face of circumstances I'm not personally facing. I march stoically into movies that other women bring the 72-hour supply of Kleenex. I feel nothing as I delete, without a second thought, those really moving email forwards I receive all too often. I was beginning to think I was past the point of feeling!
But leave it to you, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" people to wet my long prolonged dry eyes. You can't help but prick even the smallest heart with your tales of woefully deserving people who need a new home because they have tragedy in their lives you can't even begin to fathom. What? You're seven teenage siblings whose parents unexpectedly died (tragically) within two weeks of each other? A new house for you with two painted trees with doves in the front entry, so you'll always remember the parents. What? Your 7-year-old is allergic to the sun? A new house with the sunlight blocked out in an unfathomably fashionable way.
I cry watching the commercials for this show.
Last night was the kicker. A policewoman from the LAPD who was paralyzed on duty (either by a bullet or a car wreck... we missed the first 10 minutes). Exceptionally active before the accident with her marathon running and surfing, said policewoman is now confined to a wheelchair and worries about being a good mom. Never fear! You sent Ty and the crew in to renovate this Ronaldo Beach, Calif. home. The construction workers labored day and night to widen the halls for wheelchair accessibility, lowered the counter tops and created a recovery room with exercise equipment. A track system was installed throughout the house so an aide isn't necessary to help our policewoman around the house.
ABC, you sure know how to tug on my heart strings. When the family arrived home from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and the LAPD was lined up in front of the house, I shed a little tear. When the crowd started chanting, "Move that bus! Move that bus!" my heart swelled and the tears kept falling. And then, the LAPD Bomb Squad bus moved forward, exposing the house to this police family (her hubby is a cop too of course) and their crying reaction created more of a chain reaction and I was a blubbery mess.
So thank you ABC. For lack of a better expression, a lot of bad crap happens in life. I appreciate your show and the outward sign that I'm not immune to feeling empathy in the face of tragedy. I find your show a cathartic release and a reminder that we're all vulnerable to life's cruel fate.
I hope I get the boxed DVD set for Christmas.
With much tearful appreciation,
Natalie
5 comments:
I think you were meant to be a writer, not a producer.
How's the donut count going? And the job search? Maybe you can work as a writer in Boston. They probably pay a lot more there.
genius. i too am susceptible to the emotional magic that life in a box is capable of producing, and i am mostly all dried up on the inside...according to the roomies at least
i think you could write up a sad story to get the crew to do something with the holla house.... "our neighbors smoke and beat their children, and my room is cold because the windows don't shut all the way...." pretty sure your on your way to a new house...
Well, maybe if my arms and legs inexplicably fell off one night in my sleep... I think that might be the only way we'd ever qualify.
An ode to my favorite show of all time. I'm even more in love with your blog than ever before.
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