LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE SERIES #93. Rekindled (authored by Dr. Jan Canty, Ph.D)

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#93. Rekindled (authored by Jan Canty, Ph.D, ABPP)  

Rekindled, written by grief psychologist, homicide survivor, and podcast host Dr. Jan Canty, blends decades of clinical expertise with her own personal experiences and compelling research on After-Death Communication (ADC). Through this thoughtful exploration of spontaneous ADC experiences and the nature of death, she offers readers both scientific inquiry and heartfelt compassion. This book provides an insightful and comforting perspective on grief, death, and the possibility of what may lie beyond.

 

“They recognize that just because something can’t be explained doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. My goal is simple. If we can move the needle for greater awareness and acceptance of spontaneous ADCs, it will benefit grievers who have had, or who will have, spontaneous postmortem communication.”

ð     In this quote, Dr. Jan Canty encourages readers to acknowledge After-Death Communications (ADCs)—such as vivid dreams, an unmistakable sense of a loved one's presence, or meaningful signs—even when they cannot be explained scientifically. Her purpose is not to persuade readers to adopt a particular belief, but rather to normalize these experiences, reduce the stigma surrounding them, and offer comfort to those who are grieving.

     An experience should not be dismissed simply because it falls outside conventional scientific understanding. Instead, its value can be recognized by the profound comfort, hope, and healing it brings to the person who experiences it. Dr. Canty advocates creating a compassionate, judgment-free environment where mourners can openly share these deeply personal experiences. Many grieving individuals remain silent for fear of being misunderstood or ridiculed. By validating ADCs rather than dismissing them, she believes we can help grieving people feel less isolated and more supported on their journey toward healing.

 

“Before the late 1800s, grief in Western Culture was publicly discussed and displayed. Death and its aftermath were viewed “holistically”. Life and death were interconnected, part of a unified system. People widely accepted that the soul continued with the living through dreams, prayers, visions, and nature. Everything in the universe (humans, animals, and nature) was widely regarded as interconnected.”

ð    Dr. Jan Canty reflects on how Western society's understanding of death has changed over time. She explains that before the late nineteenth century, grief was regarded as a natural and communal part of life rather than a private burden to be hidden. Death was viewed as an integral part of life's journey, not as something to be feared or separated from everyday existence.

People embraced a holistic view of life and death, seeing death as a continuation of life's journey rather than an abrupt ending. Second, mourning was a public and communal experience, allowing family members, friends, and neighbors to openly express grief while offering one another comfort and support. Third, there was a continued sense of connection with those who had died. Many people accepted that loved ones could remain present in meaningful ways—through dreams, nature, or other symbolic signs—providing reassurance to those left behind.

She suggests that as modern society has become more private and clinical in its approach to death, many people have lost the openness that once allowed them to recognize and talk about these comforting experiences. Rather than asking readers to adopt a particular belief, she invites them to consider how earlier cultural attitudes toward death may offer valuable insights into grief, healing, and the enduring bonds of love.

 

“It is impossible to go on as you were before. So, you go on as you never have.” (quote from Cheryl Strayed in this book)

ð    Cheryl Strayed's well-known quote from Tiny Beautiful Things speaks to the profound reality of life after devastating loss, trauma, or grief. Rather than offering false reassurance that life will eventually return to normal, she acknowledges a difficult truth: once we experience a life-altering event, we can never fully return to the person we once were. A profound loss permanently changes the landscape of our lives. The world we once knew no longer exists, and trying to recreate our former selves or reclaim the life we had before often leads to frustration and sorrow. So, we gradually rebuild our identity, develop new ways of coping, and discover reserves of courage, resilience, and wisdom that we may never have recognized within ourselves.

In the context of Dr. Jan Canty's work on grief and trauma, Strayed's words beautifully complement the book's central message. Healing is not about "getting over" a loss or returning to who we once were. Instead, it is about embracing transformation—learning to carry our grief while allowing it to reshape us into people with greater compassion, deeper understanding, and renewed purpose. Rather than erasing the pain or trying to repristinate ourselves into yester-us, healing integrates it into the story of our lives, enabling us to move forward with strength while continuing to honor those we have loved and lost.

 

Setting the annual ritual tables for my beloved dad in January and father-in-law in August is my way of communicating with them.

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

As we grow older, we inevitably hear more news of someone's passing. It may be a family member, a dear friend, a neighbor, or even a celebrity whose poster once hung on our bedroom wall. Whenever such news reaches us, what is the very first thought that comes to mind? Do we believe those who have departed have completely severed their connection with this world?

This book does not ask readers to accept the existence of invisible communication with the dead. Instead, it invites us into an open conversation about death—one that encourages us to stop avoiding the subject and honestly share the unexpected experiences that sometimes accompany the loss of someone we love.

The year 2017 was especially heartbreaking for me. Within just a few months, I lost both my father and my cousin. There is no single word that can capture such grief. It leaves us weeping, aching, quiet, and withdrawn.

After their passing, I experienced several moments that felt like subtle connections with them, though I never realized these experiences had a name. A lone white butterfly appeared at my grandparents' gravesite long after butterfly season had ended. I saw vivid images of both my father and my father-in-law around the time of their deaths. During a trail race shortly after my cousin passed away, a striking blue bird appeared along the path, as if offering a silent greeting. I quietly treasured these moments, believing they were too personal to share.

This book introduced me to the concept of After-Death Communication (ADC), a phenomenon that has also been explored in psychology and medicine. Rather than dismissing these experiences as wishful thinking, hallucinations, superstition, religious zeal, or attention-seeking, the author presents research suggesting that ADC often consists of vivid, spontaneous encounters between grieving individuals and their departed loved ones—without the involvement of mediums, hypnosis, or other techniques.

Whether you ultimately embrace or question the idea of ADC, I believe this book offers comfort to anyone navigating grief. It gently reminds us that love does not necessarily end when a life does.

I would like to close by sharing a short poem I wrote after losing my beloved father and cousin, a poem that also appears in my novel. My heartfelt prayers go out to everyone who is walking the difficult path of saying goodbye to someone they deeply love. Lastly, my heart and prayers are with my mother’s best friend Mrs. Lee who has recently left for Heaven and her beloved family.

 

 

Hope and Pray for You in Heaven

by Jean J. Lee

The days you left behind

have felt like the most unfamiliar grind.

When I hit quiet trails

I hear my breathing becoming sad exhales.

 

The empty hollow filled with sorrow

Makes it harder to hope for tomorrow.

Here I go again with another stride

slowly but tenaciously with you inside.

 

A hundred-mile-long walk is not lonely

as you are watching over me closely.

Miles and miles apart between Heaven and earth in existence,

but walking these miles would truly shorten the distance.

 

I know that I’d cry now and then

but I promise I’d head out again.

When it rains, I’ll think of it as your gift

to hide my tears as I sniffed.

 

When it snows, I’ll listen to my footsteps

in my joyful stroll of a hundred steps.

A birdie on that cedar tree

must be that you are finally free.

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE SERIES #92. Nuremberg (film, 2025)

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#92. Nuremberg (film, 2025)

The film follows U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (played by Rami Malek) as he delves into the minds of Hermann Göring (played by Russell Crowe) and other captured Nazi leaders, probing their psyches while monitoring their mental states before and during the historic Nuremberg trials.

 

(Dr. Doug Kelley said): “If we could psychologically define 'evil', we could make sure something like this never happens again."

ð     Dr. Douglas Kelley reveals his early hope that human evil could be traced to a biological or psychological defect. He believes that if such a flaw could be identified, future atrocities might be prevented.

However, his investigation of Hermann Göring and other Nazi leaders leads him to a chilling conclusion: they are not clinically abnormal, but disturbingly ordinary. This revelation echoes the philosophical idea of the "banality of evil," suggesting that history's greatest horrors were committed not by monsters, but by ordinary people who justified the unimaginable under certain circumstances.

 

(the Pope said to the Supreme Court Justice Jackson): “If you sit long enough in judgment of others, you come to believe that laws of man outweigh the laws of God.”

ð     This is the scene where the Pope's is warning to Justice Jackson about the danger of legal arrogance. As judges wield greater authority, they risk mistaking human law for absolute truth and replacing timeless moral principles with laws shaped by politics and power. The film contrasts the changing laws of man with the enduring standards of a higher moral order. This tension lies at the heart of the Nuremberg trials, where the Allies established new international legal principles to prosecute Nazi leaders. The Pope's challenge exposes a profound paradox: if those in power can rewrite or bend the law in the name of justice, justice itself can become an expression of the victor's will rather than an objective moral truth.

 

(Dr. Doug Kelley): “What do you want from me?”

(Justice Jackson): “I need you to start asking them the right questions.”

(Dr. Doug Kelley): “You want me to break doctor-patient confidentiality. Why not just shoot them and be done with it?”

(Justice Jackson): “After the last great war, we made Germany to crawl. We humiliated them. If we just shoot these men, we make ‘em martyrs. I’m not gonna allow them that.”

ð     This scene captures the ethical clash between Dr. Douglas Kelley and Justice Jackson over the role of psychology in prosecuting Nazi leaders. Jackson insists that the trials must do more than punish the guilty—they must expose and dismantle Nazi ideology through the rule of law. Rather than creating martyrs through summary execution, the prosecution seeks to hold the defendants accountable before the world, leaving behind an enduring historical record of their crimes.

 

(Hermann Göring said to Dr. Doug Kelley): “Just because a man is your ally does not mean he is on your side.”

ð     This is the scene where we see Göring's cynical view of power and loyalty. He means to say that allies may cooperate when interests align, but they will always protect themselves first. These words show his Machiavellian worldview, where trust is merely a temporary convenience. At the same time, it serves as a psychological tactic aimed at Dr. Kelley, planting seeds of doubt by suggesting that his own superiors and colleagues will eventually abandon him once he is no longer useful. In doing so, Göring exposes the ruthless survival instinct that shaped both his philosophy and his manipulation of others.

 

(Dr. Kelley on a radio talk show): “They (the Nazis high ranking officials) are not a unique people. There are people like the Nazis in every country in the world today. Yes, in America (as well)! Their personal patterns are not obscure. They are people who want to be in power. I would say I’m quite certain there are people in America who would willingly climb over the corpses of half the American public if they knew they could gain control of the other half. They stoke hatred. It’s what Hitler and Göring did. And it is textbook. If you think the next time it happens, we’re gonna recognize it because they’re wearing scary uniforms, …you’re damn out of your mind.”

ð    On a radio talk show, Dr. Douglas Kelley delivers a chilling warning: “evil is not confined to history but rooted in human nature.” He reminds us that authoritarianism can emerge in any nation, fueled by fear, division, and the pursuit of power rather than by unmistakable villains. That is, the Nazi ideology was not a one-time historical anomaly but a universal human possibility.

  

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

This film presents the enduring legacy of the Nazi regime's atrocities against the Jewish people during World War II, inviting viewers to reflect not only on history but also on the world we inhabit today. The film reminds us that demagogues rise through ruthless ambition, sacrificing truth and human lives in their pursuit of power. As Dr. Douglas Kelley observes in the film's closing moments, tyranny rarely arrives in a recognizable form. It often wears an ordinary face, exploiting fear, prejudice, and division long before its true nature becomes apparent. By the time society recognizes the danger, it may already be too late.

This warning extends far beyond the historical setting of the Nuremberg Trials. Even today, governments justify military invasions, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the loss of innocent lives in the name of justice, national security, or peacekeeping. History demonstrates how easily noble ideals can be invoked to rationalize actions that inflict immense human suffering.

The film's message also resonates in my home country, South Korea. The newly elected president has pledged to revive the struggling economy and reform the prosecution to root out long-standing corruption. Yet political infighting and competing personal ambitions have repeatedly hindered these efforts. As the film wisely cautions, "Just because a man is your ally does not mean he is on your side." The pursuit of power can fracture even those who outwardly share the same goals.

Perhaps the film's most unsettling insight is that evil is not the product of extraordinary monsters but a latent capacity within ordinary human beings. By portraying the Nuremberg Trials as a triumph of the rule of law rather than an act of vengeance, the movie argues that justice rooted in universal humanistic principles remains the strongest safeguard against repeating history's darkest chapters. The realization that these patterns continue to unfold across the world today makes the film not merely a historical drama, but an urgent and sobering reflection on the fragility of justice and the enduring vulnerability of human nature.

 

"The only clue to what man can do is what man has done." 

-  R.G. Collingwood

Let's talk about number 9!

What is your favorite number? In many Asian shamanic traditions, especially in Siberia, Mongolia, and Korea, the number 9 symbolizes spiritual completion, divine power, and the highest level of enlightenment. As the largest single-digit number, it represents the completion of a cycle and the connection between the physical and spiritual worlds. The number 9 also appears in many English idioms and expressions, often symbolizing excellence, happiness, or completeness. Let’s get them down pat!

 

    1.  to play false nines: a tactical maneuver in soccer where the player who is traditionally expected to act as the main striker – the number nine – doesn’t play in the usual striker’s position. 

 

    2.  to be on cloud nine: being extremely happy or feeling perfect happiness

 

3.  as right as ninepence (also called "nice as ninepence"): someone or something is completely fine or in great condition. People often use it to say that a person has fully recovered from an illness or that a problem has been solved.

 

    4.  dressed to the nines: Wearing your finest or most stylish clothes for a special occasion.

 

5.  The whole nine yards: everything possible or the complete amount of something.

 

    6.  A stitch in time saves nine: Solving a minor problem now can prevent a more serious problem later.

 

7.  Nine times out of ten: Something that happens very often or nearly every time

 

    8.  Possession is nine-tenths of the law: What you possess or control is usually difficult for others to claim.

 

9.  to have nine lives: a phrase that comes from the belief that cats are unusually good at avoiding harm and stay safe through risky situations

 

    10. a nine days' wonder: A temporary sensation or a short-lived media buzz that captures the public’s attention before disappearing

NPR SUNDAY PUZZLE! FIND THE 2-WORD COMPOUND WORDS: the 1st word begins with WI- & the 2nd word begins with T!

Today's puzzle is a test of wit. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts WI- and the second word starts with T-. 

For example, Tricky puzzle --> WIT TWISTER)

1. Large plant with a "weeping" variety

2. Swiss hero who shot an arrow off his son's head

3. Event for visitors at a vineyard

4. Third molar

5. Narrow passageway with rushing air

6. Thanksgiving bird that's not grown on a farm

7. Part of a men's dress shoe

8. Thick, wide triangular knot with a royal name

9. Money sent from bank to bank

10. Illegal effort to influence testimony in court

11. 1690s events in Salem, Mass.

12. Late Shakespeare romance set in Sicily (with "The")

13. Curtains or blinds, for example

14. What a Lotto player hopes to hold

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Willow Tree

    2.  William Tell

    3.  Wine Tasting

    4.  Wisdom Tooth

    5.  Wind Tunnel

    6.  Wild Turkey

    7.  Wing Tip

    8.  Windsor Tie

    9.  Wire Transfer   

    10. Witness Tampering

    11.  Witch Trial

    12.  The Winter’s Tale

    13.   Window Treatments

    14.   Winning Ticket

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE SERIES #91. Waterloo Bridge (film, 1940)

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#91. Waterloo Bridge (film, 1940)

Against the backdrop of World War I, British officer Roy Cronin (played by Robert Taylor) and gifted ballerina Myra (Vivien Leigh) fall deeply in love, only to have fate tear them apart almost as soon as they meet. When Roy is called to the front, Myra sacrifices her ballet performance to bid him a final farewell, a choice that costs her both her career and livelihood. As war ravages Europe, a false report of Roy's death shatters her last hope. Consumed by grief and left with nowhere to turn, Myra is driven into a life she never imagined, setting the stage for one of cinema's most heartbreaking love stories.

 

(Roy Cronin): "Good night, darling.”

(Myra): "Goodbye, darling.

(Roy Cronin): "Why goodbye when it's only till morning?"

(Myra): "Because every parting from you is—is like a little eternity."

ð     This scene captures the tender yet fragile love between two souls overshadowed by the uncertainty of war, where every farewell carries the weight of forever. The phrase "a little eternity" beautifully conveys the timeless depth of their bond, while quietly foreshadowing the heartbreaking tragedy in store for them. Myra's words reveal the depth of her love and the quiet anxiety born of wartime, where even a single night apart from Roy feels like a "little eternity." Her instinctive choice of "goodbye" instead of "good night" betrays a subconscious fear that each parting could be their last.

(Roy Cronin): “Myra, I was never so sure of anything in my life. In the moment you left me after the air raid, I knew I must find you again. I've found you and I'll never let you go. Does that answer you?”

ð     This is the scene where we see Captain Roy Cronin's heartfelt declaration of love and unwavering commitment to the ballerina Myra Lester. It seals their whirlwind romance, affirming that his devotion is genuine despite their chance meeting during an air raid.

The line carries profound emotional significance throughout the film. When Myra timidly asks, "Are you quite, quite sure?" she is overwhelmed by how quickly they have fallen in love. Roy's reassuring reply quiets her fears, expressing a love he believes is both sincere and enduring. Set against the uncertainty of World War I, their romance unfolds with remarkable urgency. Roy sees their unexpected meeting amid the chaos of an air raid not as coincidence, but as destiny. To him, the looming threat of war and the possibility of separation only deepen his conviction that they belong together.

Yet the promise of "never letting her go" becomes one of the film's most heartbreaking ironies. What begins as a passionate vow of eternal love is ultimately shattered by the relentless forces of war, transforming his words into a heartbreaking reminder that even the strongest promises cannot always withstand the cruelty of fate.

 

(Roy Cronin): “The ballet was beautiful.”

(Myra): “Madame didn't think so.”

(Roy Cronin): “Well, experts never know - it takes outsiders to know, and I tell you, it was beautiful.”

(Myra): “That certainly proves you're an outsider.”

ð     To Roy, ballet embodies beauty in its purest form, just as his love for Myra is unconditional and untouched by judgment. Myra, however, believes his romantic vision is hopelessly idealized. Having endured the harsh realities of war and personal sacrifice, she is convinced that she can never live up to the flawless image he sees.

The dialogue beautifully captures the contrast between Roy's unwavering idealism and Myra's quiet despair. For Roy, the ballet symbolizes the enchanting world they briefly shared, while "Madame," the demanding ballet director, represents the unforgiving voice of reality. Her rigid standards—and her decision to dismiss Myra for choosing love over her career—reflect a world where compassion is often sacrificed for perfection.

Roy insists that the true judge of beauty is not the expert but the outsider, someone whose heart remains free from cynicism. In his eyes, Myra is still graceful, pure, and worthy of love, regardless of the world's judgment. Myra's response reveals the tragedy hidden beneath his devotion. Burdened by guilt and convinced that her past has forever tarnished her, she believes Roy is blinded by love and unable to see the painful truth of what she has become after being driven into prostitution. To her, his idealized vision is both beautiful and impossible.

 

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

Can unconditional love survive the weight of harsh reality, shame, and profound self-doubt, or will fate ultimately triumph over even the purest devotion? That lingering question stayed with me long after watching Waterloo Bridge.

My mother often told me how deeply she loved this heartbreaking classic. She believed it was beautiful precisely because the lovers never reached their long-awaited reunion. As a teenager, her words sounded like an oxymoron. How could an unsuccessful love story possibly be beautiful? To me, love was meant to overcome every obstacle, not end in tragedy.

What saddens me most is the crushing burden of class, reputation, and personal sacrifice that defines Myra's fate. Believing Roy has been killed in battle, she loses everything and, in utter desperation, turns to prostitution simply to survive. When Roy unexpectedly returns, she is overwhelmed by shame, convinced that her hidden past has made her forever unworthy of his love. Fearing that the truth would stain Roy's aristocratic family, military career, and future, she chooses to leave the man she loves.

Myra may have believed that ending her life would free her from unbearable pain. Yet to me, her final act does not transform tragedy into beauty—it deepens the sorrow. By stepping into the path of the oncoming military truck, she seals not only her own fate but also Roy's, leaving him with a grief that can never truly heal.

Perhaps that is why Waterloo Bridge continues to endure as a cinematic masterpiece. It reminds us that love can be pure, sincere, and unwavering, yet still be defeated by war, shame, and the invisible wounds people carry within themselves. While many viewers find beauty in its tragic ending, I cannot. To me, love that is forever shattered is not beautiful—it is simply heartbreaking, especially when the person you love is lost beyond all hope of reunion.

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE SERIES #90. Tell Me Who I Am (Documentary film, 2019)

Do you take delight in watching films, listening to pop music, or reading books? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.

 

#90. Tell Me Who I Am (documentary film, 2019)

This is a documentary about identical twins Alex and Marcus Lewis in England. After a devastating motorcycle accident erases Alex's memories at age 18, he wakes up remembering only one person—his twin brother. Determined to protect him, Marcus rebuilds Alex's past with a picture-perfect story filled only with love and happiness, burying the painful truth of the abuse they had suffered as children. Decades later, after their mother's death, the hidden memories finally surface, forcing the brothers to confront a heartbreaking past and begin a long journey toward truth, healing, and reconciliation.

 

(Marcus reflects on the situation after his twin brother’s awakening from a coma): “When Alex came back from the hospital, he didn't know who his mother was... But he knew... me... He had to trust me because he didn't have anybody else to trust. Without me, he had nothing.”

ð     On waking up from a coma after a motorcycle accident, Alex remembered only one person—Marcus, his twin brother. With his identity erased, he depended completely on his brother to tell him who he was and where he came from. Faced with an impossible choice, Marcus recreated their childhood as a story filled only with warmth and happiness of their family, hiding the unforgettably devastating abuse they had suffered at the hands of their own mother. What began as an act of protection slowly became a burden of secrecy, leaving Marcus to shoulder the truth alone while Alex lived inside a carefully constructed illusion.

(Alex said to Marcus): “My life is the one you gave me.”

ð     This is the most heartbreaking realizations in Alex’s life. After a motorcycle accident erased his memory at age 18, he only trusted his identical twin, Marcus, to reconstruct the story of his life. Believing he was shielding his brother from unbearable pain, Marcus replaced their traumatic childhood with a carefully crafted tale of love and happiness of their family including their childhood. In this powerful moment, Alex comes to understand that the life he believed was his own was built on a fiction. His memories, his identity, and even his sense of self had been shaped entirely by his brother's version of the past. It is a devastating revelation that raises profound questions about memory, truth, and whether love can ever justify deception.

 

(Alex asked Marcus about why he did not forgive dad when their dying father asked them to forgive him): “Why could you not do that when a dying dad asked you to forgive him?”

ð   This is one of the documentary's most poignant moments where they talk about their stern stepfather. Their stepfather was a quick-tempered man, who ruled the household through fear, forcing Marcus and Alex to sleep in an outdoor shed and keeping them isolated from the rest of the family. His silence and complicity allowed the dark years of abuse in their childhood to continue.

As death approached, he asked both sons for forgiveness. Still unaware of the full truth about their childhood, Alex was prepared to forgive him right away. Marcus, however, refused without hesitation. Unlike Alex, Marcus had carried the burden of their shared trauma for decades. To him, forgiveness would have meant excusing a lifetime of suffering. His refusal reveals the depth of his emotional wounds and the painful truth that some scars remain too profound and hurtful to erase, even in the face of a man’s final apology.

 

 

** Jean’s Small Thoughts:

Some may argue that certain truths are better left undiscovered. This documentary challenges that belief by revealing how love, guilt, memory, and deception became so deeply intertwined that both brothers were ultimately imprisoned by the same painful past.

As I watched their heartbreaking story unfold, I found myself wondering what might have happened to Marcus had he never revealed the truth to Alex. Could he have continued carrying such an unbearable secret without eventually succumbing to depression or an emotional breakdown? Or was confronting the past the only path to healing? At the same time, another question lingered in my mind: Would it have been kinder for both brothers to continue living in the carefully constructed illusion of a perfect childhood? The documentary offers no easy answers. Instead, it invites us to reflect on one of life's most difficult dilemmas: Is a painful truth always better than a comforting lie, or are there wounds so deep that forgetting seems like mercy?

Protecting someone by hiding painful truths may seem compassionate on the surface, but lasting healing and a true sense of identity cannot be built on deception in many cases. Hoping to spare his brother from unbearable pain, Marcus reconstructs Alex's past with a story of a happy childhood, concealing the devastating sexual abuse they endured. Marcus becomes the sole keeper of their shared trauma, revealing the heavy emotional cost of silence and secrecy. Although it must have been unimaginably painful at the moment of uncovering all the dark sides of their childhood to his brother, I believe that the genuine healing began only when the truth was finally brought into the light. By confronting their painful past together, not alone, the brothers take the very first steps toward rebuilding both their relationship and their sense of self.

If you carried a painful secret, would you keep it buried in the deepest corner of your mind, or would you share it with someone you trust in hopes of finding freedom? The answer depends on both the secret itself and the person who bears it.

Unlike the Lewis brothers' story, not every hidden truth needs to be revealed. Some secrets may be better left unspoken—not because those who keep them are weak or afraid, but because silence is sometimes the only way they can preserve a measure of peace and continue living. While Tell Me Who I Am suggests that confronting the truth can open the door to healing, it also reminds us that every person's journey through trauma is different. There is no universal answer to whether liberation comes from speaking or from remaining silent.

 

LET'S PRACTICE HOMONYMS!!!

Have you ever enjoyed playing with words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings? These are called homonyms, like ate/eight, ant/aunt, and cent/scent.

Let's practice by filling in the blanks with the correct homonyms for the boldfaced words in the questions below!

 

    1.   If you ________ (meaning to combine numbers to get a sum) up the prices in this ad (meaning advertisement), you’ll see what this car really costs.

 

    2.   My friend’s _________ (meaning boyfriend) gave her a pretty bow (ribbon tied in loops) for her hair.

 

    3.   After he chews (meaning grinds with her teeth) this stick of gum for an hour, he will ____________ (meaning to select/ pick) another flavor.

 

    4.   In the capital (meaning main, chief) city, we must visit the ______________ (meaning building where the legislature meets).

 

    5.   Angelina went to ______________ (meaning to look) in a drugstore because she needed a light beige-colored eyebrow mascara for her browse (meaning of lines of hair over the eyes).

 

    6.   The ____________ (meaning stopping device) on your bike will break (meaning to split into pieces) if you press it too hard.

 

    7.   In this _____________ (meaning part of a city), ride around on your burro (meaning small donkey), and you’ll find a rabbit ____________ (meaning hole).

 

    8.   How much can a potter earn (meaning to get paid) for making copies of this ancient Oriental ________ (meaning vase)?

 

    9.   It was quite a __________ (meaning accomplishment, deed) for the elf to win this race with his tiny feet (meaning lower parts of legs).

 

    10.  By morning’s dew (meaning moisture on the ground), I will do (meaning to accomplish) all I can to repay the debt that is ____________ (meaning owed).  

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  add

    2.  beau

    3.  choose

    4.  capitol

    5.  browse

    6.  brake

    7.  borough, burrow

    8.  urn

    9.  feat

    10. due