This is a tissue-tugger if there ever was one! I haven't seen this movie in several years but growing up, I always made a point of seeing this movie. It is one of the few movies that as a young man and an adult that I have watched multiple times. I always found it very moving and an emotional experience. I don't normally cry at movies but this one always made me misty. I looked for it for several years, telling my wife what a great movie it was to see and how I wanted to share it with her. I finally wrote to several of the TV networks and got one to respond with the next time it was going to be on television. It was a big night in our household, popcorn popped, tissues handy, and kids to bed as we watched the movie. As the finally credits start rolling and I'm holding back from getting misty, I look to my wife, ask her what she thought and she answered with, "Is that all there is to it?" I was crushed to say the least.
At any rate, it still moved me, though I hadn't seen it in years. You feel for the struggles of the family, the harshness of the wilderness and the era for growing family. You see how adversity makes the family more close-knit and the bond between one another grows. No TV, no Nintendo, none of the amenities of today but the love and understanding that builds in a large family that relies on each other.
