Life is Beautiful

Buy a projector, create a movie calendar, and invite all of our friends: It was a great idea, and were it not for Jordan’s follow through a great idea it would have remained. You see, to get from idea to execution takes commitment that I lack when it comes to social schemes. Fortunately, Jordan has plenty for the both of us.

He created the movie calendar (think The African Queen, Black Swan and The Goonies). He updated it every season, sent reminders every Thursday afternoon, had me make popcorn every Friday, and, sure enough, we’d get a small group of friends almost every week. We had a few “frequent fliers” and a few weekends of no-shows, but overall it proved to be a great way to regularly catch up with our favorite people in San Diego.

As our final movie night approached Jordan put on the pressure, reminding folks that our departure date was near and this was one of “your last chances to say goodbye.”

On December 2nd, 18 people crammed into our Little Italy loft to watch Life is Beautiful. I questioned Jordan’s decision to have a World War II film wrap up a year of friendship and fun but he was confident.

That night, as I looked around our family room filled with friendly faces laughing at Roberto Benini’s antics, I couldn’t help but think that Jordan must know Roberto’s secret: As serious as it can be at times, life remains enjoyable, laughable and, above all things, beautiful.