Now, for those of you who don't know, I am an avid follower of the show Glee. Originally I began watching it because I did choir for twelve years, and I wanted to see how Fox would interpret the blood, sweat and tears shed during rehearsals and performances. As well, I wanted to see how they would incorporate the drama involved in choir. Many people don't think about this, but when you throw a group of teenagers in a room together and have them bare their hearts and souls out in front of one another, drama is going to happen.
Anyways, none of that matters right now. The reason I continued to watch Glee was because of a few key story points. First; Karofsky, the school bully, and Kurt, the only openly gay kid at the school. There was drama there and a lot of potential for an excellent plot arc. So far, though it's going slowly, things are looking up there.
The second was the character of Sue Selvester. She's the evil coach of the school's cheerleading squad. She has made it her life's goal to destroy the Glee club because they took away from her funding. Anyways, though she's a terrible person, we found out in the second or third season that she has a sister. Her sister lived in a nursing home and was born with Down Syndrome. Despite how she was to the rest of the world, there were a few scenes that showed how loving and caring she could be whenever her sister was involved. That was originally what made me love Sue.
If you watch Glee and have not seen last night's episode, I recommended that you don't read further. I will be posting spoilers that will ruin the episode for you.
In last night's episode, Sue's sister passed away due to a case of pneumonia. I know that, originally, when Sue first said something about it, many people thought she was saying it as part of an elaborate scheme to bring down the glee club. I, however, knew better, If there is anything Sue never jokes about, it's her sister. Eventually in the episode, Sue goes on to say that her sister caught a small case of pneumonia, but the doctors didn't think it was anything to worry about. They put her sister on antibiotics and said she'd be fine. The night of her death, Sue was with her sister. Her sister insisted that Sue go home to get some sleep. So, against her better judgement, Sue went home. At around 2 AM, only a couple of hours later, Sue got the call that her sister had passed away.
Immediately, I began tearing up. It wasn't necessarily because of the character's death or because of how it affected Sue. It was more because of how it resonated in my life. My grandmother passed away when I was thirteen. In an effort to give me a good day, my mother took me out to a movie after school and then to dinner. After dinner she told me the news that my grandmother was placed in a hospice. Immediately I was shocked. I knew what a hospice was, what it was for, and it just didn't make sense to me. My grandmother was a strong and powerful woman who kept on going no matter what. However, her stomach cancer had gotten the better of her. My mother took me to the hospice so I could see her. My grandmother was in a drug induced sleep so she wouldn't have to be in pain. She was sleeping more peacefully than I had ever seen her sleep. I wanted to stay, but my mom said that it was a school night so I needed to go get sleep. The next thing I remember is my mom waking me up and telling me that she passed away in her sleep. Even now I can feel tears welling up at the memory.
Later on in Glee, a distraught Sue agrees to let one of the kids in the club plan her sister's funeral. When the funeral rolls around, despite Sue's fears of having no one show up, the church was full of other patients in the nursing home, the staff, people who knew her, and all of their families. Surrounding the casket was large colorful mushrooms and green grass. Sue's sister's favorite movie, one that she had watched at least three times a week for thirty years, had been Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Behind a veil, a small orchestra was playing a medley of music from the movie. Immediately upon seeing it, I began tearing up again, the memories of my grandmother's funeral coming to mind. Then Sue began her speech and I lost it. Tears flowed free as she tried to speak, but kept stopping because of her tears. The glee club director got up and finished her speech for her, and with every word that was said, I cried harder. It made me realize how, even today, I miss my grandmother so damn much. She was the rock in my life. She was the woman that practically raised me. I saw her every single day from basically the time I was born until her death.
After the speech, the Glee club sang a beautiful rendition of her sister's favorite song from the movie; Pure Imagination. It was so heartfelt and full of love. Despite all the hell Sue put them through, and believe me she did, they were still there for her in her time of need. As I'm laying in bed writing this, I'm listening to the snow globe I bought my grandmother when I was just a kid. After she died one of my relatives tried to throw it away, saying that it was just another knick knack she had collected over the years. I saved it because I knew it was something she had loved, something was me to her. The song it plays is Till the End of time. Though it was a song originally meant for lovers, I think the lyrics still stand. "
Till the end of time, 'long as stars are in the blue, 'long as there's a spring, a bird to sing, I'll go on loving you."
I'll keep this snow globe until the day I die. It will always be visible no matter where I live. It will always remain a constant reminder of the woman I loved so dearly, of the woman who raised me, of the woman who shaped who I am, of the woman who I will miss forever.
