Hope...

In all of cinema, the final conclusion of only a few films have really moved me. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one, and "Saving Private Ryan" is another. My favorite though - "The Shawshank Redemption."

Most great films are filled with great dialogue and screen writers never get the credit they deserve. This movie, though dark in places, really is about hope... enduring hope. As the film comes to an end here are my two favorite lines...

"Hope, is a good thing, maybe the best of things... and no good thing ever dies."
Andy Dufresne - The Shawshank Redemption

"I hope I can make it across the border, I hope to see my friend and shake his hand, I hope the pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams... I hope."
"Red" Redding - The Shawshank Redemption

You've got to see this movie to appreciate the lines and to see the ending to "get" the impact. A really great film should "move" you. Laugh, cry, be inspired - you name it - great movies make you think. This is a great movie.

As 2007 takes shape I hope... I hope for more peaceful times in the world and in our country. I hope for health and prosperity for my family and friends. I hope for inner peace and strength for the people I love who are growing old. I hope for a miracle with my autistic daughter. I hope I can be forgiven for my trespasses, and hope I can forgive others sooner rather than later. Finally, I hope I can be the man my God, my wife and my family needs me to be.

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things...

TK