Lil Wayne is Not Lil

This morning I watched the Early Show rather than my usual Good Morning America because a friend flew to New York to be interviewed but unfortunately, she was not on the show. All was not lost, however because I saw a segment by Katie Couric featuring Lil Wayne. When the segment appeared, I was multitasking as usual, speaking to my former student and friend who calls me every single morning to make sure we are fine (my, how I appreciate that) AND watching the show. As I was talking to her, I began to tell her about this face-tattooed young Black man being interviewed. I had no idea who he was. As I began to talk to her about the segment, she told me that it sounded like Lil Wayne. As I listened, I found out that she was right--OMG, I thought Lil Wayne was Lil. I found out once again, that we can never judge people by what they look like or what we think they should look like. I found out a lot about this young businessman /rapper, a graduate of the University of Houston.
Later in the day, I decided, on the "spur of the moment" to go see Gran Torino even though I'm not a Clint Eastwood groupie. I had heard so much about the movie--most people talked about this old man with the racist comments. It was oh so much more than that. I saw young and old beginning to understand one another. The old man, from another time, when his neighborhood was different, learned to accept others much unlike himself. He had judged them as they could have judged him. I saw the old learning from the young and the young learning from the old. Behind his gruff exterior, there was love. It reminded me once again that love is an action word--not defined so much by what we say, but by what we do. True Love is Do Love. I hope I never get too old to appreciate the wisdom of the young and I hope that the young will never become so narrow that they think they cannot learn from the old.
I loved the movie--I loved the lessons--I loved the love!