Where the Heart Is

I was watching an interesting movie today called Where the Heart Is, starring Natalie Portman.  It follows the life of a pregnant woman who is abandoned by her boyfriend in a little town in Oklahoma.  She is forced to secretly live in the Wal-Mart to get by, and eventually ends up giving birth to her daughter in the store one night.  The peculiarity of her story makes its way into the news, and she suddenly finds herself an instant celebrity.

Fame is short-lived, and she is soon forgotten.  But with the help of some great friends in the town, she slowly rebuilds her life, raises her daughter, and falls in love with the town librarian.  The librarian, Forney, is particularly fond of her little daughter, Americus, and he spends quite a bit of time playing and talking with her.  One of their conversations had me in stitches at it’s innocence and simplicity.  But also, in Forney’s willingness to communicate at the little four-year old’s level.

Americus: “If you feed a cow chocolate, will you get chocolate milk?”

Forney: “Yes.  And if you spin a cow around really fast, you’ll get whipped cream.”