Sooner or Later

Well, my middle daughter just turned 13. For some reason, she triggered a memory that I had way back in my mind. I don't know if it was her age, her innocence, or what but it took me back to my pre-teen years. In 1979, I was about 9 or 10 years old. It really was a great era to be a kid. I remember back to this one movie that I could vaguely remember, but there were a few scenes in the movie that really stuck in my memory. If any of you were around your early teens during this time, I am sure you may remember this movie. (I think most of you on F&F are too young to even know about this movie.) Anyway...this movie is called "Sooner or Later" and it's about a 13 yr old girl who lies about her age to get the attention of an older boy who is 17 and a "rock star". Well, there is a scene in the movie where she gets her heart broken and is sitting at her kitchen table binge eating an entire chocolate cake, crying her eyes out. That scene has stuck with me all these years. At the age of 9/10, I could totally relate to Jessie's behavior. That wasn't the only scene where she used food to deal with her feelings. Right before that scene, she was on a date with Michael and had ordered an OBSCENE amount of food at the movie theatre because she was so nervous about "messing around" with Michael and was feeling the guilt of not telling him the truth. But, even knowing that the entire movie was a young love story, it was the food scenes that stuck with me. I was overweight at age 9/10. Puberty got the best of me and I learned very bad habits by using food to deal with my feelings as a young pre-teen. This is how Jessie dealt with her feelings too. I think if Jessie was a real life character, I bet she would be struggling with her weight just like all of us here. It kind of makes you more aware for your own young teen. It brings in a different perspective and realization that our eating habits stem from when we are children. No wonder there are so many teens out there with eating disorders. But, for some of us who overeat, we never got that chance back then to have someone intervene and teach us how to deal with our feelings withOUT food. I have taught my 13 yr old to journal her feelings instead of feeding them. I just hope she continues her life to deal with whatever she is going through with a pen instead of a fork.

Anyway...if you have never seen this movie....I HIGHLY recommend it if you have a young preteen/teen. If you can get past the "cheesyness of the 70's" movie era, the movie has a GREAT message and it brings back all those feelings we had when we were that age. You can rent it through Netflix. I bought the movie for my daughter as a birthday present.