"Up in the Air"

Great movie, watched it for the second time last night and there are a couple of lines in it that I think are really profound.

First:

The movie's about a guy who flies around the country and fires people for a living, and he has the following exchange with someone he's firing, trying to show the guy he's firing that being let go from a boring corporate job is not necessarily the worst thing in the world (this is the rough exchange, not a direct quote):

Fire-er: Do you know why kids love athletes?

Fire-ee: No.

Fire-er: Because they followed their dreams. How much did they pay you to first come to work here and give up your dream?

I think it's so sad and so common...so many, many people give up their dreams to go into a respectable corporate career, me included. For me personally, I don't think it makes sense today to totally give up my corporate job, but I can work a lot less hours, and spend a lot more time focused on things I love.

Second:

Same guy is home for his sister's wedding. The groom has cold feet and the brother goes in to talk to him. The thing that he says that makes the groom realize it's going to be OK to get married is something along the lines of:

"Think back to your best memories, the days and times that you really treasure. Were you alone in those memories, or were you with other people?"

The answer of course is, other people, or at least it is unreservedly with me.

I've been thinking about that line since I first saw the movie, and since last night in a slightly different context. I'm in the middle of my 4th and last IVF cycle, and my husband will not be able to be with me for the transfer as he's in college, we need him to miss as little school as possible (our clinic's out of town). My mom would be the logical second choice, but she's in Costa Rica 'til March. So I've been thinking, do I ask a friend to come be with me, or do I go through it alone? Now I know the answer. I have a lovely friend in Denver I'm going to ask...