Some movies stay with you for a long time after you leave the cinema. The Help is now one of those movies and right up there with my all time favourites. I was lucky enough to attend a pre-screening followed by a High Tea last weekend. You can read about the High Tea here. And let me tell you that I was mesmorised the entire movie. In fact I realised an hour in that I hadn’t even shifted in my seat. That never happens. This is a movie that just touches your heart and emotions. And I was getting teary in the first 5 minutes. Then realised I didn’t bring any tissues. Uh oh. Bring your tissues, ladies.
Now I could go on and on about this movie but I won’t say anymore so that you can enjoy it. And if you have been living under a rock and missed the trailer, then here it is:
And now the best bit. I have 3 prize packs to giveaway! Each winner will receive a double pass to see The Help and a copy of the novel too. I’m a little jealous since I haven’t read the book yet. And since this movie is all about inspiring and courageous woman, just tell me who is inspiring and courageous in your life? This giveaway is for my Australian readers only and please don’t forget to include your email address in your answer so I can email the winner. Full T&C are available here .
And if you don’t win then you will want to see this movie. I know it’s going to become an all time favourite for lots of women everywhere.
My mother died when I was 8, so my brother sister and I went to live with my Dad and my stepmother. She had one child of her own and was pregnant. She went from one kid to five within 3 months. Less than 10 years later, my Dad left her and left all of us with her. She never flinched, and with little education, no job and little help from Dad, raised us all as if we were her own. You don’t get much more inspiring and courageous than that!
The most inspiring and courageous woman in my life? Definitely my mother!
A true Southern lady, my mamma was born and raised in Texas, and was trained in the fine arts of homemade pies (both baked and fried) and delicious Southern-fried chicken from a very young age! She was married a week after she left high school and moved far away from home to the wilds of Missouri where life was rough and they had to hunt and forage for food. She could make a delicious meal from absolutely anything, including groundhogs and dandelion greens.
After a few years she courageously followed her beloved husband halfway across the world to Australia. She missed her own mother and sister dreadfully, wishing they could have been close when she was having her own babies, but never repined, was always cheerful and loving, and made Australia her new home. We always loved to come home from school to her hot, fried apricot pies; and visitors always seemed to turn up the moment her buttermilk fried chicken and cream gravy were set on the table! My favourite midnight snack was always her leftover fried chicken, which would get all crispy in the fridge… I’d sneak up the stairs and nibble on it in the dim light of the refrigerator in the dead of night. There was hardly ever any left by the next morning so maybe my brother and sisters did the same.
My mother is the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, with a heart bigger than Texas and a determination that everybody she meets will be well-fed and happy! If everyone had a mother like mine the world would be a better place.
I loved this book and hope that the movie can really live up to it!
I have so many inspiring women I my life, but at the moment the woman who I see picking her self up and working her way through each day still with a smile on her face is my sister in law.
My husbands younger brother was diagnosed with terminal brain tumour at easter. He is the same as as my sister in laws father when he died.
She has been there every step of the way going above and beyond, still working and raising their 2 children while helping him get through all the treatments and doing it all, while her heart breaks.
They were childhood sweethearts — together at 15 a first child at 17 ( he is now a strapping smart funny 16 year old) they have worked through it all, breaking stereotypes after stereotypes. The boys ( 16 and 10) are smart and clever sporty boys, they have worked hard and are further through their mortgage and were looking forward to a cruise for the second time this year when the discovery was made.
I am amazed each time I see her, not only getting herself and her husband through such a discovery but her boys and our mother and father in law as well, as they are not ( understandably ) coping well at all.
She has gotten up each day and is still going. She is the most courageous woman i know.
My (almost) mother-in-law inspires me constantly. She shows me courage and understanding and patience and kindness. She was diagnosed with MS in her mid 30’s and the disease progressed quickly. When she was almost 40 she (very!) unexpectantly became pregnant again with her third child, a little baby boy who would go on to become the love of my life. She bought the surprise baby home, then six weeks later was standing watching her husband fell a huge gumtree on their property when a limb fell on her, she sustained a spinal injury and spent the next year in hospital on her back, all the while with her baby beside her in a hosptial cot. Her husband (my fiance’s Dad) quit his job to look after their older children. Her spinal injury and her crippling MS has not stopped her being an amazing mother, giving and selfless to no end. She went on to raise three amazing humans with such kindness, poise and moral compasses – all whilst wheelchair bound. She’s amazing, funny, witty, smart as a whip, a brilliant mother (and now grandmother) and I can’t imagine not having her in our life.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with MS some years ago. She has had to stop doing various things that she loved to do but has never let it stop her battling on, achieving new things and helping others. A lovely woman.
My mum for sure. She is a psychologist who works (for next to nothing) with homeless and abused children. I see the sadness in her eyes sometimes at the stories she must listen to hour after hour, but she lives those kids a’s much as she loves us. She often buys them things with her own money, lives them unconditionally, and has gone over and above for literally hundreds of kids. She bravely walks into dangerous situations regularly to advocate for their literal lives and I’m so proud of her. I would love to go this movie with my mum.
So many inspiring women I’m reading about from the above comments! Wow, thats just amazing to read the stories so far! Mine would also have to be my mother. She has had a pretty hard life and had to tackle looking after her own mother who was battling bowel and breast cancer (and living with us too) as well as us 3 little kids. Now she is living through the historic Christchurch earthquake and all that goes with that. She is amazing to have coped with so much in her life. I really want to see this movie for sure. I know I will love it just like you
x
Like a lot of others my mum! She is going thru Chemo and radiotherapy at the moment and I’d love to take her to see this. She always taught me not to rely on any one else – she was a schoolteacher and I remember being one of the only kids with a working mum ( that shows my age) .
Carlandrach@optusnet.com.au
Wow, what a question, it is so amazing to have so many inspirational women in my life. My daughters continue to inspire me with their independence and creativity and knowing what they want to do, I was never as sure of anything at their age. My mum inspires me with her energy, she plays golf, bridge and keeps her house amazingly neat and clean. She feels bad to sit down and relax in the day. Wish I had half as much energy. I teach with an amazing group of women who give so much energy and commitment to their students it is wonderful to be working with them.
I am blessed to have/had many women who inspire me in so many different ways. But my mother stands out as an example of faith, courage, kindness, patience and so many other ways as she battled for decades with debilitating illness, but never once pitied herself, and continued to enrich the lives of people around her instead. She left a gaping hole in our lives when she died, but thankfully she also left an abundance of wonderful memories and an example for me to follow of a life well lived.
Crawling out from under my rock I’m delighted to read this post and truly enjoyed the trailer.
A woman who inspires me regularly is my friend Jane who in spite of a year of setbacks, disappointments, challenges and grief still manages to keep her heart and mind open to the beauty in life and who radiates a warm glow of happiness with whomever she interacts.
Happy day Corrie and thank you for sharing,
xx Felicity
My Mum is the most inspiring woman I know. She has taught me to make things from very little and to hang in there in spite of the difficulties. She also taught me that a wine at the end of the day is a necessity sometimes!
My (step)Mum would be the lady I most look up to. I lost my Mum when I was 6 due to Meningitus complications. There was 4 kids and we were 6, 4,3 and 1 years of age. 15 months later Dad married again, a lady of the tender ageof 26 (I realise now being almost 24 myself lol). She took us all to her heart and went on to have 3 of her own as well. I love her and its from her that I get my love of everything craft
I wasnt the easiest to get along with in those early years, dealing with my own grief but she waited me out and loved me through it.
2 people. There is a lady that looked after me when I was a youngster. We lived in housing commission flats and she represented all the light and love in the world for me. An amazing warm beautiful generous woman. I hadn’t seen her in 25 yrs and her daughter found me on Fb the other day, so I met up with her when I was in Melb. She is 91 and as beautiful and sharp as the day I saw her 25 yrs before. Remarkable woman.
The other is a mum of a little girl with DS who I haven’t seen for over a year. She and her husband are migrants and they struggle. They really struggle (financially). But each and every day they do their very very best for their only girl. If love came in a cup, theirs would be overflowing. Every day, one foot in front of the other. In fact. I’d love to drop off the passes to them. They deserve it.
The most inspiring woman I know is my Nan. Her husband divorced her in the 70s so she moved to melbourne to start a new life near her children. she bought a little house and got herself a job to support herself (she had been a mum for many many years) and developed the amazing ability to create a meal out of almost nothing. She loved having us for sleepovers when we were older, which always comprised breakfast in bed (a tray with porridge, cold toast and marmalade). She helped mum out lots (four children) by being taxi to piano lessons and babysitting. She taught me to have a strong faith in God, to work hard and to be hospitable, the importance of family and spending time together. She died about 5 years ago and I miss her so much, but am thankful for the legacy she has given all her grandchildren. (And the way we see her shinning through her great grandchildren – one of them loves to sweep and makes us all smile as we remember Nan doing just the same thing!)
janelockrey(at)gmail(dot)com
My mother is the most inspiring person in my life – she feel pregnant and had me at 17 and has never looked back. I had never realised what it meant to have a child when you are a teenager but now being the same as she was with 2 kids (im 23 and have no children) I have realised how much she gave up to give us the best life she and my dad could. I will never be able to repay her for anything or be able to know exactly how she felt but in my eyes she is an inspiration and my best friend in the world
l.lewis.1988@hotmail.com
I am inspired by SO many amazing women in my life… my Mum who had me very young and defied the stereotypes of young Mothers, she worked fulltime, married my father, and 35 years later they are still the best of friends… My best friend, who’s life battles have been cruel, yet she chooses to live a blessed life… my Mother-in-law who is currently battling cancer and trying her hardest to keep on keeping on….my Uni gal pals, a unique group of nursing students who juggle our lives as mothers with the demands of intense study to earn the privilege of caring for strangers…. and finally, at the risk of sounding like a suck….I HAVE to mention a certain blogger of the Retro variety, who I come to read most days, who CONSTANTLY inspires me creatively, and also as a mother, as a wife and as a friend. Some blogs I read are kind of like peeking into someone else’s world, but the Retromummy blog always inspires me to get up and DO or CREATE or MAKE, and really appreciate my role as a Mum. I think it is courageous to write like this, sharing a passion online with ‘strangers’… I like to think I am setting an example to my 3 children of what it is to be an inspiring and courageous woman as well xxx
ps. That trailer gave me goosebumps, can’t wait to see it!!!
My Mum is always inspiring to me and the way she has lived since losing my dad is courageous. Its been a long time now and she is so lonely but never complains. I’d love to see this movie and read the book.
You should definitely read the novel when you get a chance !! I haven’t seen the film yet but looking forward to it when I get a break from uni. The most inspirational people in my life are my parents. I owe them everything and for all the opportunities I have.
Hi Corrie!
This movie sounds good. Would love to win an offer!
Despite the father my father was I am inspired by him. He was a very respected man and ahead of his time. He was extremely courageous and positive through out his treatment and his decline. He did not collapse in a heap or get mad at any of us. He stood proud and tall and made sure we knew he loved us and he was very proud. It was this short 18 months of his illness I got to know my dad as a human and someone I could love. SO when ever I get sick or feel pain I remember what he had to deal with and how he did. That is how I want to do it.
My mum, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer 8 years ago and given 6 months to two years to live. She’s just got back from a safari in South Africa, the Taj Mahal, thailand and a host of other places she visited earlier this year!
It sounds absolutely beautiful xox I recently just lost a very inspiring friend, who always modeled and life by the mantra of how to make the most of your life and live with no regrets. Makes a beautiful mantra to live by, to cherish each and every moment because you never know when your time in this life is complete
I think I’m one of those living under a rock, but this looks just like my kind of movie! How inspiring are the women in the comments section of this post also! Just like so many others my mother is my biggest inspiration. Her husband died just under 2 years ago and she is currently in Rwanda for 3 months helping out at a school for underprivileged kids. She’s an inspiration!
OM goodness I have been waiting sometime for this movie to play in Oz…..I saw the trailer a few months ago and loved it. The most inspiring woman in my life at the moment would be my neighbour – she is simply amazing. She is in her 80’s,helps in the local Op Shop, goes dancing, walking and has time to visit others for a chat and a cuppa. She always has a wonderful story to tell about the olden days and what mischief she got up to back then. A true blue funny gal. I would love to win this one and take her along as I think she would love the movie.
I am fortunate to have met many inspiring women in my life. My real heroine is my godmother. This lady has had more than one cancer battle which have left her with some life long unpleasant problems and she never complains ever. She is softly spoken and so generous. She volunteers at a cancer centre. I have never heard her swear or say a bad word about anyone. There have been times that would send most of us to distraction but not this precious lady. The only negative I can think of is her non interest in cooking. But as she is on her own it is her choice and I love to send her some favourite goodies now and then
If I could emulate her graciousness and her spirit I would consider myself blessed. So in many ways she is my role model too.
Mine would be my mother.
Twice widowed, her first husband died when they had been married less than three months, and the second was my father.
When Dad died, mum was left to raise four children, teens and preteens. Somehow we all survived.
She has just retired, closer to 70 than 60. She also took on looking after my cousin’s son for a few years and worked seven days a week when she needed to.
When my dad was alive, before his mother passed away she would drive my Poppy to visit his wife in the nursing home. Now her mother is in a nursing home (and turned 100 today) and she has taken to travelling from Sydney to the hunter to visit her.
Well I must say my girls are the ‘little women’ that inspire me everyday. They are so free and at ease in their little world. They see possibilities and excitement in so many things I would otherwise have not given a second thought to.
Their hearts are so forgiving and full of love. They make me strive each and everyday to be better than the day before. I cannot think of a more privileged job than to be their mama. Aw, now I am teary. Bless their hearts. Jacinta
Well I have to read this book for book club and the list is long at the library so thanks for the opportunity. Mum is so inspirational, she has been an aged care nurse until she retired at 60. looking after so many who never get visits from there loved ones, and sitting with them passed her shift when it was there last night on earth. She is also very generous with her time to teach others to sew quilt and knit, now she has more time for that, and has started a group through the church called woman to woman.to help others who are at home alone and with craft you are never really alone. The need to be be needed is as strong as the need to give. we are also great friends.
I have been seeing snippets of this movie come up all over the place, am thinking it would be a great movie to see with my mum so will have to put this into play no matter what, we don’t get some nice one on one time together very often. Just as most people have said here, my mum is my inspiration, not because of sickness or anything serious or heartbreaking like that, but more so for the person she is and no matter what, she is always there for me through thick and thin, she works hard, is a great friend to a lot of people and in my eyes is an all round fantastic person.
When I travel through the www checking out blogs I find a lot of people I don’t know quite inspirational, people like Tatum Woodroffe from Somewhere in my Imagination who has four kids, lives a busy life and just recently shaved her head to raised funds for the cancer council. Tamar from Tarisota who is a working Mum, plus runs a home based business, is doing a bi monthly newsletter called Teapot and also contributes to a lot of other things. Kate from Foxs Lane is another, currently caravaning around Australia with 3 kids, my partner and I have done a couple of little stints like this up north on our own and I dont know how on earth she is doing it, my kids would drive me up the wall in the car for hours on end, but she jumps on her blog and writes her posts and you can feel her smile as you read, and of course I couldnt forget to mention you, with your 4 kids, your home based business, running markets and keeping us all entertained, people like you and lots of other people I have mentioend blow me away, with the time you share and the joy you all spread, thanks Mx
My Mum for sure. She loved us desperately and refused to accept that her cancer was terminal. I watched her battle cancer for 11 years before she finally died. She was wonderful and courageous and we all miss her so much!
My inspiring woman is a friend I met through a tough time last year. Here we were both newly single mums and daring to believe we could go back and get that education that had always been denied to us by our ex’es. My friend has 2 small children and I marvel at the way she pulls it all together, she’s a thoroughly modern woman who studies, raises two beautiful boys and has a home to be proud of. Some women are born with the ability to inspire and selflessly give. She is definately one of them.
I love your blog Corrie!
A very inspiring and courageous person in my life is my best friend. She has experienced serious illness this year but she amazes me with the way she never feels sorry for herself but thinks only of how she is better off than some people. She is so positive and grateful for any little good thing.
roksalanna@gmail.com
The women who inspire me are young mother’s like myself… they show me that even on tough days, we have the strength and determination to get through AND make a difference to our children (and friends) even if we are stay at home mums.
I had the same experience, as did the entire theater. I live near Los Angeles and was part of a group who was able to see the film in July. No one moved at the end. We just watched Aiblene walk away. Then I read the book, then saw the film again. It changed me. My all time favorite film. Glad to hear it is making waves down under.
Deborah
So many heartfelt entries here, how could you ever choose just 3… My inspirational women are Aunt’s for so many reasons, but most of all because they are always “there” for their family, always, no matter what!!!!
the most courageous woman I know is my mother in law. She is now in her 90s and very sadly is diminishing with dementia. She married young in country Queensland and her husband turned out to be a drunk and a wife beater. She left as soon as she was solvent and took her two baby sons with her. almost unheard of in those days. She worked in a pub in Rocky and provided as best she could. She soon realised that she couldn’t afford the boys so sent them to boarding school and worked every hour that God sent to pay their tuition which she did. She remarried and went on with a lovely new husband to have three wonderful children. My father in law (her second husband) told me that in those early days she would clean her teeth with a rag and put the money for a toothbrush into the boarding school fund. A mother’s love knows no bounds.
My brother passed away from Bowel Cancer 2 and half years ago. Both him and his wife were so courageious throughout this. Plus my SIL lost her Brother to Swine Flu only a few months later. It has certainly changed all our lives. We realise what is important in our lives now.
Thank you for the chance to win the tickets and books. Love a great book.
Happy days.
Bev.xoxo
Hi Corrie,
(I have tried a few and having my own chooks the “kids frittata is a weekly meal for us).
Thanks for the giveaway, it is lovely to see you giving away such rewarding gifts. I am an avid reader of your posts and I love all the recipes you share, thanks
I find other women of my own generation inspiring in the true sense of the word. A girl I once knew at school and with whom I have reconnected through facebook, has gone from our ordinary happy childhood in sunny NSW to be the owner of her own very successful internationalmarketing company as well as a happy wife and loving mother. I find her positive and successful life incredibly inspiring. I also find the women I work with incredibly inspiring, the positive choices they have made and the way they have chosen to face the challenge of creating a happy work life balance as career focused mums is incredible to me, they still cook and sew and love their children whilst holding down jobs most men find overwhelming.
I would like to say my friend Julie who is the facilitator at our local Playgroup. She runs two Playgroups as well as educating children and parents as part of a government funded Schools as Community Association. She aims to bring mothers and carers to a loving and safe place where we can connect and find support for one another. My life and a huge lot of other mums and carers would not be the same without knowing her.
My mother is the most inspiring and courageous women in my life. I live in Australia because my mum put the house up for sale and applied to immigrate to Australia with a young family over 30yrs ago. No matter what happens in her life she is always there for me and encourages me to follow my dreams. She is not only my mum but my best friend. Love you mum xxx
Saw this movie yesterday, took your advise and took the kleenex. What a great movie although i’ve been feeling doww in the dumps so probably wasnt a good idea to watch this movie but anyway after having a cry feel so much better. Don’t need to win but I do highly recommend everyone seeing it. Thanks
My Nana most definitely, for so many reasons
My brother, sister and I all spent a great deal of time with her during our childhood, and all at some stage lived with her during our adult lives also. She had a great innings, making it to her mid nineties, but still – I miss her terribly.
I wish I could say my mother but I have to say my nana or my mother in law. They came from vastly different backgrounds but have displayed determination, independence and courage. My nana worked and saved enough money to buy her first house with cash. When her husband died at a young age she sold up and moved to Queensland to enjoy the sun. She was able to live the rest of her life without any financial assistance from anyone.
My mother in law came from Russia with absolutely nothing except 2 suitcases, her husband and a six year old. Again, she worked so hard and managed to build a comfortable family home and pay it off. I know that money isn’t everything but these examples show me how strong these women were – and both of them have / had endless time for their family and friends as well. I use them as inspiration in how I should live my life.
this is for my mother who has had a tough terrible life with only sprinklings of joy, we had to put her into a nursing home as she has early onset alziehmers from the stresses of her early life, its so hard to go and visit her and feed her like she is a bird but she knows us and kisses us when we hug her and she is handling it all with dignity and loves all the nice nurses, like i say cherish your parents as you dont know how long you have them for and each day with mum is another blessing until she goes of to the long goodbye!
The most inspiring women in my life at the moment is my cousin.
She is currently going through breast cancer treatment and has held her head high and will not let the medical world and percentages of cure let her down. She has two little boys and has been separated from them for the last six months. She is doing all of this for them. So they can have a mummy at the end of it all.
If I win, I will take her to the movies with me:).
She will also be on a brochure for pink ribbon day. I would do anything to make this terrible disease disappear.
Oh I can’t wait to see this movie.
The most inspiring woman in my life is definitely my mother. She inspires me and encourages me on a daily basis. She’s currently going through a few health issues yet she still selflessly helps anyone who needs it. She is a mother of five and has been through so much in her life yet she’s not hardened by it. Mum is the sweetest and most loyal person I know.