THE THORN BIRDS: TRAGEDY

Images shot from DVD

Justine meanwhile becomes a stage actress in Europe and one day visits Dane at the Vatican. Cardinal Vittorio liked her immediately; he later told Ralph she was ‘very entertaining’ and how underneath her independent spirit and flippant way of talking was a very sensitive young woman. Some one else is also attracted to Justine, a friend of Ralph’s- Rainer "Rain" Moerling Harheim, a German politician and several years older than her. Justine goes out with him but is afraid of total commitment, although she loves him as well. Dane is later ordained as a priest, ironically by his own father. He takes a vacation to Crete in Greece, Justine was to join him but she stayed behind to be with Rain. While swimming in the sea, Dane noticed two women in trouble with the current and swarm to rescue them but he suffered a sudden heart attack and drowned!
Meggie is told the terrible news by Fee who'd spoken with Justine over the phone and after some difficulty; Dane’s body is flown back to Drogheda accompanied by Ralph, Justine and Rain. Dane’s remains is taken to the family vault. Ralph tries his best to console Meggie but filled with pent up rage and sorrow, she turned to him and told him the truth; DANE WAS HIS SON! Ralph faintly said it was'nt true but Meggie coldly asked him how on earth would he think she could go back to Luke after what they had done at Matlock Island; Dane was his son, a more perfect version of himself. Ralph burst into heart wrenching tears but Meggie made no move to comfort him.
Rain tells Meggie that Justine felt she was the cause of her brother’s death by not being with him in Crete and had decided to move back to Drogheda permanently, instead of going back to London. But Meggie tells Justine she had nothing to be guilty about; it was true she had loved Dane more than her and had neglected her like Fee did to her years back, but she still loved her daughter very much. The two embrace each other warmly and Justine follows her mother’s advice of finding happiness; she finally said yes to Rain’s proposal of marriage.
Justine and Rain take their leave, telling Meggie that Ralph wasn’t flying back with them and he wanted to see her. Meggie found him in the flower garden (where they’d exchanged their first kiss so many years back), in prayer. He however looked up when he felt Meggie’s hand on his shoulder.
She slipped her arms round him and he held her ; hugging each other in reconciliation. Ralph filled with relief, said, ‘My Meggie. I knew you would forgive me, I knew.’ He signaled to her not to apologize to him for her harshness.
He looked even more frail, broken down by the knowledge he had failed Meggie by putting his ambition to be Cardinal before her, instead of leaving the church and marrying her a long time ago. He knew very well that choice would cause him pain and yet he had done it anyway. And Meggie had gone through many battles but still had the ability to love & she'd never stopped loving him despite the way he'd wronged her. Meggie didn’t reproach him; instead she rested her head on his lap, while he stroked her hair. Ralph is noticeably very ill but still kept his hand on Meggie's head, stroking her hair.
He asked her if she remembered a story he’d told her years ago, about the mythical thorn bird that searches for a thorn tree from the day it hatches. She remembered, he had told the story the night Frank and Paddy had quarreled. When the bird finds the perfect thorn, it impales itself –singing its most beautiful song as it dies. Ralph replied, the bird is not aware of its death, it just sings and sings and dies singing. But they humans, when they put the thorns in their breasts, they know very well. They understand but still they do it.
Meggie smiled sadly , kissed his hand and put her head back on his lap,while he continued stroking her hair, once red with golden highlights, now gray. But after a while, Meggie noticed his hand had stopped moving; it had fallen to his side. She looked up and saw his eyes were closed forever.

Ralph, whom she’d known and loved for 43 years… was dead. She touched his cheek and hugged him, too numb with grief to cry. She then placed her head back on his lap,
the plane conveying Justine and Rainer to Sydney flying overhead...



THE END. 
 

THE THORN BIRDS: MEGGIE'S SECRET

Images shot from DVD

Ralph and Meggie spent several idyllic days on the Island, the happiest they'd had in years. Ralph now realised that being in love with Meggie made him a man like all men, despite his ambition to be the perfect priest. He however had to go back to his duties in Rome but tells Meggie he truly wished he could marry her and never be apart from her ever again; he'll never stop loving her, she must remember that. They exchange a very painful goodbye and he leaves for Rome, while she prepares to leave Luke. When she returned back to Anne and Luddie's house, she already knew she was pregnant... with RALPH'S BABY!

To cover up, (in the novel) she spent one night with Luke, told him exactly what she thought of him and left, telling him he could kept the money he'd stolen from her but he must never step one foot into Drogheda or expect more money from her from then on. She and Justine went back to Drogheda and are very warmly recieved. Months later, Meggie gave birth to Ralph's child, a beautiful baby boy she named Dane. Fee is the only one who immediately knew that Ralph is the father, not Luke, the boy resembled Ralph very much, except for the colour of his hair, blonde while Ralph's was black. Over the years no one in the family ever found out (blind or stupid, I don't know). Ralph confessed to his mentor, Cardinal Vittorio about what had finally happened between him and Meggie. Vittorio, who had known about their love since the rose Meggie had given Ralph fell out of the missal he stored it in, understood and was'nt shocked , especially since it had been with The Rose, (his own name for Meggie) whom he felt very sorry for.

19 years later, Ralph is finally a Cardinal and goes to visit Drogheda. He meets Meggie's children, outspoken Justine and respectful Dane. Meggie is now in her forties, Ralph in his sixties but their love for each other is as strong as ever; they shared another romantic night together. Perhaps Meggie would have told Ralph her secret if Ralph hadn't expressed his hurt about her going back to Luke after what they had done in the Island, and allowing him to father Dane- -she merely told him no one thought of Dane as Luke's son, but as her son. Ralph forms an immediate rapport with Dane during his stay, not realising at all that he was his son, neither does Dane. Dane shocks his family, especially his mother of his intention of becoming a priest! Meggie doesn't blame Ralph as the boy had already decided before meeting Ralph at all. Fee points out to Meggie that what she'd stolen from God, she must now give back. Meggie resignedly sends Dane to Rome, to be under Ralph's care. Vittorio, who sees through anyone and anything, immediately saw that The Rose's son was fathered by Ralph due to their resemblance. To cover up and at the same time protect the three of them, he asks Ralph to say that Dane was his nephew to avoid people saying he was showing too much preference to Dane. They agree and it worked. -TO BE CONTINUED...

THE THORN BIRDS: THE WRONG HUSBAND

Images shot from DVD 

Meggie married Luke O' Neill but the marriage is an unhappy one right from day one. Luke was a miserly oppoturnist who'd only married her for her money; he regarded women in general as sex objects and prefered to hang out with men more often. They go to Queensland and he gets her a live-in job with a couple, Luddie and Anne Mueller who treat her very kindly. He finds himself a job as a cane cutter in a sugar cane plantation. Before he left, he arranges for Meggie's wages to be paid direcly to him and he keeps her bank book which has all her savings. He claimed he was saving to buy a homestead for both of them, but he had no intention of spending any money or give up the toil of sugar cane cutting as it is very competitive. He hardly visited Meggie and in her despair, she gets pregnant on purpose, in order to force Luke to settle down but it does'nt work, he's angry at having another mouth to feed. Most of the time, Meggie thinks about Ralph and longs to go back home, but is far too proud to tell her brothers Luke treated her badly. One of her brothers, Bob, wrote to her that Ralph visited them unexpectedly and had been upset she was'nt there & furious that they had'nt told him she'd married, and how he moped around as if she would suddenly appear. But her brothers still didn't suspect anything,they just felt Ralph missed her since they've always had a deep bond. Ralph, now an archbishop, is very sad at Meggie's absence & marriage and very worried about her. Luke did'nt sound like a nice person to him. Cardinal Vittorio, his mentor, found out the reason why Ralph had been harbouring so much sadness in his eyes for a long time when the rose Meggie had given him fell out of his missal. Ralph confessed it spoke of a love as pure as he bore God and it was for the church he'd forsaken her. Vittorio tried to cheer him up and vowed to always pray for Meggie- 'The Rose' as he called her.

Much to Luke's anger, Meggie had written to Ralph for a loan in the hope Luke would have more than enough money to buy a house instead of saving so hard, not realising he was hoarding Meggie's money with no intention of spending at all, he was merely making excuses. Ralph received her  letter in Sydney, the letter forwarded from Greece.

Meggie's due date comes and she has a very difficult labour. She bravely resists the pain but kept on yelling for Ralph. Ralph suddenly appears, much to Anne and Luddie's amazement(they had'nt expected the Ralph Meggie kept calling to be an archbishop) and immediately realise that the two were in love. Ralph asked the doctor to save Meggie if he had to chose between her and the baby- but fortunately both survive.
Meggie gives birth to a baby girl, whom she named Justine. But she wished that the child was Ralph's and accused him of ruining her life by saying he loved her but chose to remain in the church instead of marrying her and treated her as if she was still a child. Ralph is very sad at Meggie's state but leaves. Luke still does'nt come over the months to see Meggie or Justine. Meggie is yet to recover from childbirth so Anne and Luddie send her to a private resort called Matlock Island for 2 months to get her strength back. Ralph comes to see Meggie on his way to Rome and is told by Anne where Meggie was. He gets there, merely to visit Meggie and mend fences but Meggie, angry that he'd showed up to hurt her again tries to run away from him but he ran after her and caught her, kissing her passionately. A short while later the couple at long last consummated their love...

THE THORN BIRDS:THE BEGINNING OF AN UNLIKELY LOVE

Images shot from DVD 

This is the title of a very touching story(also adapted into a mini-series) by Colleen McCullough that I’ve read several times and I decided to share it with my visitors so I can get honest opinions. The Thorn Birds is a romantic saga of three generations and it all begins with a little girl called Meghann Cleary, commonly called ‘Meggie’ by friends and family. She is the only girl in a family of several boys, headed by a very hardworking Irish man called Paddy and his overworked wife, Fiona, commonly called ‘Fee.’ She had been handed over to Paddy years back after she had ‘disgraced’ her aristocratic family and did her utmost best to be a good wife and mother but most times she was quiet and remote and mostly favoured her eldest boy, Frank, who never got on well with Paddy. This family lived in New Zealand.
In Australia lived Mary Carson, Paddy’s older sister who had married a rich man and owned several properties; the most well known is her sheep station called ‘Drogheda’. She was a widow with no children and as such decided to send for Paddy and his family to help out in the estate but will become her heirs after she died. When they arrive, the priest of the parish is sent to pick them up from the train station. The 28 year old, stunningly handsome priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart, goes to the station to meet the Cleary family and is immediately captivated by the 10 year old Meggie, whom he regarded as the sweetest, most adorable little girl he’d ever seen and the daughter he’ll never have. Meggie in turn makes Father Ralph the centre of her world as the family, except her oldest brother Frank, hardly had time for her. Ralph and Meggie from then on formed an unbreakable bond. This made Mary Carson angry and jealous; she harboured a deeply passionate obsession for Ralph and hoped in time she’ll be able to entice him into breaking his vows by using her money as bait. He needed money in order to liberate him from his present exile (he was there because he’d been rude to a bishop) and hoped Mary would give him a hefty sum for the Catholic Church, so that he’ll rise up and one day be Cardinal.
Frank’s rocky relationship with Paddy hits the rocks permanently one fateful evening. During a quarrel witnessed by Ralph and Meggie, Paddy unintentionally blurts out the truth; he’s not Frank’s father. Fee’s ‘disgrace’ had been sleeping with a married politician, at the age of 17 and gotten pregnant with Frank. After her grandmother (the only one who’d supported her) died, her rich father had handed her over to Paddy, who’d been one pf the workers on the estate and was forever banished from the family. As Frank was the fruit of that lost love, Fee loved him far more than anyone in the family. Devastated, Frank left home to join a boxing troupe but was later imprisoned for assault. Unhappy at what she’d witnessed and the death of her baby brother afterwards, Meggie clung to Ralph more than ever over the years; he did his best to console her and spent most of his free time with her, infuriating Mary all the more. Everyone else merely saw their relationship as that of brother and sister, but not her. She decided that though she’ll never have Ralph, she’d see to it Meggie never had him instead and would always be dependent on him.
Mary’s 72nd birthday party changed the course of Ralph & Meggie’s lives forever. Meggie showed up at the party looking very beautiful in an ashes of roses (rose-pink) dress, shyly looking at Ralph. It was then Ralph’s feelings evolved- Meggie was now 18, and no longer little Meggie, he was now IN LOVE with her. Two guests noticed the way he gazed at her and stroked her hair, which made him restrain himself and avoided her for the rest of the evening. Later on in the garden, he explained to Meggie that some people might feel their relationship wasn’t platonic if he’d been more attentive towards her. Meggie in turn realised her own feelings towards Ralph. Mary died in her sleep that night and it’s discovered she’d made a new will which forced Ralph to choose between Meggie and his ambition to become Cardinal one day. Drogheda and 13 million pounds is to go to the Catholic Church. The Clearys were to remain in Drogheda as administrators and residents as long as a Cleary descendant was alive- Ralph was to be the executor and pay them hefty salaries. Paddy refused to contest the will, much to Ralph’s anger, he KNEW why Mary had done what she did and he hated her for it. Paddy and the family weren’t greedy, they felt living in Drogheda for the rest of their lives and earning large salaries was more than enough- besides the sum of 13 million pounds frightened Paddy. Ralph and Meggie exchange a very painful goodbye. They confessed their love but Ralph begged her to marry and be happy with someone else. They exchanged their first kiss before he abruptly left her for Sydney. Meggie was unhappy but was confident Ralph would somehow leave the church and marry her.
Some time later, one of the fields in Drogheda is struck by lightning and catches fire. Paddy is burnt to death and one of his sons, Stuart who went to look for him is gored to death by a wild boar. Ralph comes to Drogheda and is told the sad news. He finds Meggie alone and consoles her, which led to them to exchange passionate kisses again, but Ralph forces himself not to let it go further. Ralph conducted the funerals and before he left, Meggie gave him a rose to remember her by. He placed it in his missal and kept it there from then on.
Three years later, a new worker at the ranch, Luke O’ Neill courts Meggie and in an effort to forget Ralph, she encourages it.

-TO BE CONTINUED...

HANG ON PLEASE...

Thank you for coming to my defence Nkechi, I'm as sorry as everyone about this unexpected development; as we speak, I'm doing my best to find another source of material. As for Sister Joy, I DO make an effort for telenovela posts; I found material for my LA USURPADORA posts to the FINALE plus its sequel MAS ALLA USURPADORA after a very long search. Besides, Mrs. Philo is a professional and has been blogging long before me; i'm just a humble writer yet to make money from this blog & recieve royalites from my 2 children's books released in 2006. My aim is keeping my readers satisfied and I'll never stop doing that. Anyone who has additional material for La Mujer de Lorenzo is free to contribute. Meanwhile click on the links above to read on LA USURPADORA ,its short sequel as well as gist about the star of the show, Gabriella Spanic. And rememeber, there'll be more posts on TU O NADIE(No one but you). Seasons Greetings!

BREAK IN TRANSMISSION

VERY BAD NEWS folks; my main source of material, MBI, announced its temporary closure of operations in THE PUNCH and as such, unless I find another source, there would be no LA MUJER DE LORENZO posts for a while. I'm very pissed off about all this, especially since it seems the telenovela is about to come to an end. But don't despair, there'll still be posts on the other telenovela, TU O NADIE (No one but you) and I promise, it's eqaually interesting. Pls, continue to log in on my blog, I won't disappiont you.

P.S click on CUANDO SEAS MIA FINAL EPISODE (contd.) & see the additional pics I added to the post.

2 BIG LOSSES: Makemba and Crichton

I'm sure many of us have heard about the recent death of 'MAMA AFRICA', Miriam Makeba in

Italy, when she collapased on stage during a concert. But while Africa is in mourning, so is America, for they've just lost one of their most talented writers, who was also a medical doctor, producer and director. I'm talking about Michael Crichton, author of JURASSIC PARK,

THE LOST WORLD, RISING SUN, DISCLOSURE, & other novels, including being the creator of the T.V series ER. Mama died of a heartattack(on stage) at age 76, which Crichton died at 66 after losing his battle with cancer. Both will be greatly missed and I know the legacy they left behind will go on for a long, long time. May they both rest in peace.