My Neighbor Totoro

This is my favorite movie of all time, bar none. It's very much a film that anyone, of any age, can love. We have worn out a video and a CD of this film, that's how popular it is at our house, and Louisa's middle name is "Mei," after the little sister of the film.

Set in postwar rural Japan, "Totoro" tells the story of Satsuki and Mei, two little girls who move to a rickety house in the country with their absent-minded anthropology professor dad. Their mother is in the hospital, and they don't know if she'll ever come home. Into the girls' lives comes the King of the Forest, a nature spirit that Mei dubs "Totoro," her mangling of the English word "troll." Totoro helps them understand the natural world around them, and to cope with the absence of their mother.

It's one of those films where "nothing much" happens, and everything happens. It is completely charming, and I want to live in it.

This film has become even more precious to us since my illness. It's become a touchstone for us, watching these two girls so close in age to my own two, dealing with the uncertainty of their mother's illness (don't worry, it's a happy ending).