My Precious Jewel and Dragons

Several months ago, I took a gamble. I showed my then 8-year old "The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey." She had not read any of the Tolkien books, had no idea what would happen, but my gamble was that she would enjoy the movie (part 1 of the Hobbit book) enough that I could compel her to read the entire thing. I told her that if she wanted to see the rest of the movies, she would have to finish the book first.

This past week, "The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug" opened. It took my Jewel nearly 3 months to do it, but she did in fact finish the book before the movie came out, and as promised, I took her to see it.

The event was perhaps one of the most rewarding of my time raising her. It was not simply because she got to see a movie, but she had to make the investment in the long term process, and I had to invest in her life, in order to make it happen. It was a very special experience.

We went early in the day, so with a near empty theater we felt comfortable talking through the movie, discussing what we thought, and how it compared to the book. When it came time to see Smaug for the first time, she was entranced the same way that she was the first time she saw a light saber. I have no idea what her mind's eye thought what he would look like, but I trust that her real eye was not disappointed.

When all was said and done and we were heading out of the theater with her beaming, she excitedly turned to me and said, "I wish it was NEXT year TOMORROW!" so that she could see the conclusion of the trilogy.

I want to experience this feeling so badly once more, but I realized it was not simply a matter of watching a movie together. It was about the journey itself, finishing a quest, and then returning home to relive it over and over again. Kind of like Bilbo Baggins.