empathy

La Princesita and I watched "Juan Querendón" together tonight. She's 6 (well, almost) and has lots to opine regarding what she sees, words she can catch and millions of questions about what is being said in the situations. Watching alongside her, I have a new appreciation for what I had always deemed "overacting" on the part of, particularly, latino actors in their telenovelas. The raw emotion, the body language and the use of music really help to drive the empathy for human situations that telenovelas, by nature, are meant to evoke. I am not a soap opera fan by nature. However, Latin American soaps run for a maximum of 5 months as opposed to 50+ years and are easier, as such, to digest for me.

In this evening's episode, Don Gaytán lost his mother in an operation. Gaytán (his name formed as a mocking of his homosexuality in a heavily heterosexual plot) is devastated by this loss and, consequently, many tears are shed and much comfort is sought in the arms of his crush, Juan "Querendón", by his side fulfilling what any caring, sympathetic human would do, I would hope, for another.

My darling Princesita has always been sensitive to emotion, much like her mother. She watched, transfixed, the operation scene, the panic-stricken faces of the doctors as the mother of Gaytán flatlined, of the head surgeon coming out to inform Sr. Gaytán of the loss, of the tears...

and she cried

and I held her

and I told her that it is okay to cry and that we also need to see the beauty of the scene, the fact that Gaytán's friend stood by his side the entire time to comfort him and the fact that Gaytán and his mother had the chance to express their mutual love for each other before her passing.

La Princesita is now asleep. As I sit and watch her breathe, I am reminded of how lucky I am to have such sensitive, feeling children, as both my baby boy and my baby girl have demonstrated the ability to empathize with others' feelings. This can be a challenge, as it will open them both up to feeling extremely intense emotions and permit them to experience Life to a different degree than a less-sensitive person might. I can only hope they both know that it is acceptable to cry, to feel and to love deeply.