Saw a Good Movie . . .

Now that we have Netflix, I'm finally getting to see a lot of movies. Coming up soon, The King's Speech.

One evening this past week when it was too hot to move, we watched an old one, "Temple Grandin." Have you seen it? Temple is a real woman who is a professor in Colorado now. The movie is about her childhood and into womanhood, and her struggles to be accepted since she has autism.

Now don't go thinking this is a woe-is-me, I had a tough life and no one understands me type of movie. Not a bit. Temple is tough and brilliant, and she fortunately had a science teacher who recognized that brilliance, understood her, and guided her into college and a career. She was also blessed with a mother and an aunt who pushed her to be a success and to be happy, while letting her be herself.

Temple is a visual thinker, so there are many laughs when someone says a normal figure of speech and Temple pictures it literally. You also have to laugh when she is determined to do something and perseveres despite objections - usually the objections of men who don't understand that she has something important to say about cattle. Cattle and other animals are her passion and she revolutionized the treatment of cattle in feed lots and slaughter houses.

I defy you not to cry when Temple speaks at her college graduation, and when she gets up to speak at a conference about autism. She is quite a woman and the movie of her young life is a heartbreak and a joy to watch.