If you are headed to see My Sister’s Keeper, the latest tearjerker from The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes, I would suggest bringing along a big box of tissues. You will probably need them. The film is a poignant and well put together story of a family who is struggling to survive and remain alive while suffering through the reality of a child who is dying of cancer. It is an intense and sometimes painful look at how hard a family fights to keep one of their own from the pain of death and what exactly it takes to save a life.
The movie, based upon the book of the same name by Jodi Picoult, focuses upon Anna, the youngest member of the Fitzgerald family. Anna is not dying. Her older sister Kate is the one suffering from leukemia. Anna is a “designer baby” who was genetically designed to serve as a donor for all the needs Kate will have throughout her battle against the disease.
Since as early as her very birth she has had various pieces taken from her and donated to her sister for the sole purpose of giving Kate a better chance at surviving her illness. After many years of needles, hospitalizations, and pain, though, Anna has decided enough is enough and she no longer wishes to be spare parts for her older sister. Despite her very young age she essentially begins the film by visiting a locally well-known, slick attorney and convinces him to help her sue her own parents for “medical emancipation” and the ability to say no to future operations and regain control of what happens to her own body.
Anna’s actions, of course, confuse and anger her parents, specifically her mother, Sara, who immediately lashes out in extreme rage at the unwillingness of Anna to save her older sister from what is certain death without her help. Sara is understandably upset. From the moment she discovered her daughter Kate was sick, she has dedicated her entire life to saving her. She quit her job, enlisted the help of her sister Kelly, and spends every waking moment working toward curing Kate’s disease. She was the one who ultimately decided to have another child in order to provide for the physical health needs of Kate. After giving up so much and truly believing the entire family was completely dedicated to helping save Kate’s life, she is shocked and bewildered by Anna’s desire to no longer sacrifice her own body and health for the sake of her sister.
From a human perspective, Anna’s decision makes sense. Kate’s survival is completely dependent on Anna’s willingness to sacrifice her own life, future, and well-being for the sake of another. Not only is that a huge burden to place on such a young child, it was never something she was given a choice about. It was as if she were created with one purpose, and that involved a built-in sacrifice that she was never really given the choice about making. In reality, she does have a choice, though, as we always do have a choice, whether or not to give up her life to give another the chance to live; and she decides that she is not willing to sacrifice herself for her sister’s sake.
In doing so Anna therefore answers the question of what it takes to truly save a life. It requires a sacrifice. Anna decides she will not give up her own life, which will undoubtedly lead to the sacrifice of her sister’s Kate’s life in order for Anna to continue to live. Eventually it becomes clear, though, that this is something Kate has already thought through. Just as Anna eventually discovers she has had a choice about giving up pieces of her body to her sister all along, Kate too has a choice. She realizes that she can choose to continue to fight and require the life of her sister Anna in return, or she can give up and let the cancer take her and in doing so not only allow Anna to live, but allow her family to heal and once again live the life she believes her illness has robbed them of. The love that she has for her family and specifically for her sister is what leads her to realize that she will have to decide whether or not to give up her own life in order to save the life of her family.
The sacrifice that is required to save a life is something that we are already familiar with thanks to the sacrifice made by our Savior Jesus Christ. He showed us long ago that the only way that we would ever have a chance to live is by Him giving up His own life in order to save ours. He had a choice. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy and that it would be truly horrific for Him, but it was the only way. Even at the last moments before His death he prayed for another way, for this cup to be taken from Him. His incredible love for us, though, ultimately led to the giving up of His own life, in order to save all of humanity from what would have been certain death. No matter how much he loved us, in the end, it required a sacrifice to save us.
In the same way, though all of Kate’s family loved her dearly, in the end it wasn’t enough. The love Kate received from her family and all of the other people in her life undoubtedly improved the quality of her life and even led to improved health at times and seemed to make everything better at least for a while; but in the end, a sacrifice was ultimately required. Praise God we have a Savior who has already made the ultimate sacrifice for us and in doing so has taken away the uncertainty and pain of death and has made assurance of eternity with Him possible. No matter what happens, we know that after all the pain and all the suffering and all the sacrifices, He is there waiting with open arms ready to welcome His children back home.
