This Made Me Cry

You know that I don't very often embed video, and I've never embedded one this long before, but folks, this made me cry.

It wasn't James Franco, although he seems like a lovely man and may be my new favorite actor. His comment about self-centeredness is right on target.

Look at the face of the junior high boy doing the interview, though, especially at about the three minute mark. That face, right there, is as familiar to me as the back of my hand. Even though this California kid looks nothing like any of the Boys, I've watched my Boys in difficult situations that nevertheless delighted them. They knew they were mastering the task at hand (usually not interviewing James Franco, but maybe nailing a difficult piano solo, or answering a geography bee question, or working a complicated math problem) and the joy burst through on their faces.They simply could not stop smiling.

The memory of that joy, even as tears slide down my face, is making me smile as well.