Secondhand Lions

If you haven't seen Secondhand Lions with Robert Duvall, Michael Cane and Haley Osment, I highly recommend it. I'm not sure why, but I just love it. Maybe because I love old people and the stories locked away that often never get told because we're all too busy to listen.
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A deadbeat Southern mom leaves her son, Walter, with two great uncles in a run down house in the wilderness with dogs, pigs, a lion, giraffe, a huge lake and no TV or telephone.

The two Uncles are known for being a bit crazy. They are mean old bachelors who have a huge amount of wealth. When salesmen come to the property, the two bachelors shoot -- not directly so as to kill them but more to chase them away.

Although initially the men object to having a teenage boy on their property "We're old, damn it. Leave us alone!" they give in and allow Walter to live with them until she finishes schooling.

Story after story the two old men give Walter courage to be a man. Not only that, they provide unending entertainment. You're never quite sure if the stories are true or not, but you want to believe these old men.

"Honor, courage and virtue mean everything....Money and power mean virtually nothing, good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this...that love, true love never dies...A man should believe in those things because those are things worth believing in....You got that??"

These men had stories and morals but they were also pretty rough. When Walter asked them to not do any more crazy stunts (like beat up teenagers and fly planes) so that he could be sure they lived through his college years they said,
"What do you expect us to die of, old age??" And then they conceded, "Alright damn it. You win. I'll stick around and be your damn uncle but don't expect me to be happy about it."
During the course of the months that follow, the men order a lion. They were hoping for a dangerous lion, but apparently, she's old and has no more fight inside. The lion becomes Walter's pet but at a key moment near the end of the movie, the lion comes out and attacks someone who is trying to hurt Walter. In the middle of the attack, the Lion (affectionately named Jasmine) dies and Walter asks the old men what happened.

"Her heart gave out in all the excitement." But Walter wanted to be sure she was a real lion, a real jungle lion there at the end, a real Africa lion.

At the end of the movie, Walter is a comic artist who has a comic strip called "Walter and Jasmine" and gets the call that his uncles died flying a plane upside down through the old barn on the property. In the will, the uncles wrote:
"The kid gets it all. Just plant us in the damn garden with the stupid lion."

I guess it's a reminder for me to take the time and talk to older people. They have experienced so much of life that we often take for granted. I think when I return to the US I'm going to visit a few old folks homes. All of my grandparents have passed away and I miss them. I miss their lives, their old hands, their stories. We can learn so much from "Secondhand Lions."