Finding Freedom, Living Loved: Lovely Blog Party: Sophie & Dr Harrison

Cordy is hosting a Lovely Blog Party for the month of February, and as loveliness is something I can't get enough of, I wanted to participate. Initially, I wasn't sure what to write about, and then I realized there was one story that was begging for me to address: Cranford.

(Be warned: spoilers will ensue.)

I'd been familiar with the title of Cranford for a long time. To be honest, it never sounded extremely appealing, mostly for two silly reasons: one, it sounded a lot like cranberries which I didn't particularly love, and two, I had once heard my sisters say that the movie was just about a bunch of old ladies swooning over a young, single doctor. (Which... is not completely an untruth.)

My brother bought Cranford for his girlfriend and then found out she had it already, so he gave it to me. I had it there on the shelf for a shamefully long time (hint: years) because I had just started Lark Rise to Candleford and said I didn't want to start a new series until I'd finished that one. Only that one took years and I got bored of it after a few seasons, and by then, had completely forgotten about Cranford.

Then the other day, my younger sister and I were perusing our DVD selection, when the title Cranford appeared and my sister joked about watching it.

"What a marvelous idea!" I thought. "I had completely forgotten about it."

We sat down to the first couple episodes and I must say, perhaps it helped that I had had a stressful week, it was raining outside and we had a fluffy blanket and snacks inside, and the story was one where nothing too draining or shocking happened. Perhaps if all those events had not come into account, I would not have enjoyed it half so much. But as it was, I enjoyed it. Very much.

Of course, my sister and I poked fun at the amount of deaths that took place (which soon wasn't even funny) and it certainly was not of a suspenseful nature, but it made me laugh, it made me smile, and occasionally, it almost made me cry.

Miss Matty needed a long, long hug, Miss Pole stole every scene she was in, Mrs. Forrester was absolutely adorable with her funny little curls bouncing out of her cap and her warm, tender heart. (And her dear cow, Bessie, haha.) Mary was such a dear, sensible girl and I was so proud of her and her steady hand and kind heart. Mrs. Jamieson made me want to snort every time she raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. Harry was a dear boy, and I really warmed to Mr. Carter. Jessie had me rooting for her and I was so glad she ended up with her love in the end. Martha's loyalty to Miss Matty was admirable and sweet. Miss Galindo annoyed me at first but came out alright. (I especially liked her in Return to Cranford. But I won't talk about that right now as it doesn't even compare to the first one.) (Tom Hiddleston, though.) (He made it a lot better.) (I could probably watch it again for him.) (Okay I'll shush now.)

Caroline Tomkinson made me want to growl and grimace every time I saw her but also, I quite enjoyed being annoyed by her, haha. Reverend Hutton was frustrating, but he did want to protect his family at all costs. Which brings me to Sophie, who is the most darling girl in all of Cranford, and naturally the prettiest. (That always seems to come in hand in hand in such stories.) Which of course, brings me to Dr. Harrison, who is a ~~precious little boy~~ kind, young man that seems in need of protecting, which in turn brings me to why I'm here today:

To squeal about the complete adorableness of Sophie and the Doctor.

I really want to say elegant words and describe the scrumptiously darling romance between the two of them but right now my brain is more like ;LKJSL;JGHA;LSHGLIJDK.

So instead, allow me to show you fangirl in picture form, with some small interjections thrown in. (And I must note there is a shamefully small amount of good quality pictures of these two on the internet, so these were the best I could find.)

The kind way Sophie looks after her younger siblings. She is already a mother figure and is so young. Her poor, tender heart when she lost her little brother must have utterly broken. But then Dr. Harrison was so eager to help and heal her hurt. Both of them struggled with unnecessary guilt.

They seemed like two doves, almost; both so innocent, and full of hope and excitement for the future. They both had such struggles to face, and yet they came through, and grew stronger and closer from it.

I must admit, it seemed terribly predictable that Sophie would become deathly ill and the Doctor was the only one to rescue and nurse her back to health, but also - the inner romantic within me was really none too mad about it. It was just so, so sweet.

I think one of the reasons I loved these two was that they reminded me that there is good, pure, innocent romance still to be found. I'm quite sick of watching shows where it's considered normal to cheat or have a string of significant others; where loyalty and consistency seem to be disregarded as boring and old-fashioned. But oh, how refreshing to see a romance that blossoms naturally and sweetly. It reminds me of one of my favourite couples: Cinderella and Kit.

They are one of my favourite kinds of love stories for all those reasons mentioned above, and also because their story ends in their fairytale wedding, and a happy ending is always, always the best.

And you cannot convince me otherwise.