Most of you know my obsession with Anne of Green Gables - after all, I'm going to Prince Edward Island for my honeymoon. I decided at age 5 that I was going to P.E.I. on that most romantic of adventures to honor the most romantic of movies - but only once I found my own, personal Gilbert. I wasn't sure it was possible. After all, who could live up to that dashing boy with his laughing eyes and his loving gazes? Someone who could tease, challenge, respect and care in equal measure?
But at long last, I have found my Gilbert. The man that could finally hold a candle to the fictional character I've compared every man to my entire life. And so this summer, I am going to take the trip I've been dreaming of for 22 years. I want to take Matt on a stroll down Lovers' Lane, pick apples in the orchards, walk the red beaches, and hold hands on the bridge of Barry's Pond.
Anne of Green Gables (and it's squeal, Anne of Avonlea) aren't romantic movies in the common sense. The Anne movies are really just a coming-of-age story. Yet the unassuming, pure, quiet beauty - and all those passionate gazes - make them most romantic series of all time (in my humble, completely unbiased opinion).
I fell in love with Anne, Gilbert, Diana and all the other characters around age 4 when my grandmother introduced me to the VHS movie sets (each movie was 2 tapes). I could sit enraptured for the first 4 hours, then return the next day and watch the next 4 hours. From those earliest days, when I didn't even understand half the words they used (like "tresses" - which means "hair"), I understood a deep-rooted kindred spirit in Anne.
My mother says she's not sure if I love those movies so much because I am so much like Anne, or if I'm so much like Anne because I love the movies so much. I don't really know either. But there is something incredibly good about a movie that can capture the heart of a 4-year-old, and remain her favorite movie at age 28. A movie that you put on in your parents living room and they groan "again??" but by the end, everyone is sitting there, enraptured by the world it has created, tears rolling down their faces.
And it was in this way that I came to love Anne like a twin sister, and Gilbert as the representation of great love.
This past weekend was all about wedding planning - getting details finalized, including the trip to P.E.I. When I heard that Jonathan Crombie had died, it was such a strange feeling. Almost like the man of my childhood was passing away, as the man of my future came to be.
Granted, the character that Jonathan portrayed so perfectly, will never die. He will live on in the hearts of girls for generations to come - he will light up screens across the world with his charming smile. He will never be forgotten - and in that way, Jonathan will never be forgotten. I suppose that's one plus of being an actor - when you play a memorable character, you will live on forever.
I have a feeling this summer, when we are in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, that there will be tributes to Jonathan Crombie's loss. But there will be celebrations of his life as well. For me, I will meet him again and again - as he was in his 20s - each and every time I re-watch those movies (and recite all the lines in my head). I pray that my future daughter will know him as well, and her daughter, as they watch those movies and fall in love with that world as I did.
