Resources for Loss

Clips from "Coco" (2017), contributed by Stephen Freeman (2021)

The following videos are two scenes from the animated film Coco, released in 2017. In the first, a father (who is now in the land of dead) remembers singing to his young daughter before having to leave home. In the second, a young child (Miguel) sings this same song to the girl (called Mama Coco), who is now so old that she seems unresponsive to her surroundings, a shade of her former self. In doing so, Miguel beg's Mama Coco to remember her father and how much he loved her. 

While I have actually never watched this film, these videos nevertheless are extremely moving to me as they speak to the importance of memory, love, empathy, and music in overcoming and accepting manifold types of loss. These clips emphasize how our loved ones, even after passing, continue to live on in us. It is no coincidence that the spark of the memory of the woman's father coincides with the return of her personality and identity. So much of who we are is defined by our connections to those we love. So, while these connections can seem like painful reminders of what we have lost, these clips call us to remember and cherish them as a way to honor their living legacy in us.

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