5 MINUTE MOVIE GUY

Where have I been? Oh, where do I even begin? I’ve been wanting to make this post for weeks, but each time I end up regrettably putting it off. As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted any new content on my website over the past 2 months. I vanished abruptly and without explanation. I’m no stranger to doing this with my website, I’ll admit. It’s become something of a bad habit, and it has kept me away from my website more often than I have been active. This time, however, was a little different. To explain it requires me to share a little insight into my personal life, which I don’t often do. For whatever reason, I enjoy my anonymity as 5 Minute Movie Guy, although I’ll rightfully acknowledge that it would probably be for the best if I finally put a face to the moniker. In due time, I suppose it will inevitably happen, but in the mean time, allow me to explain why I went away.

You see, I’ve been taking care of my father for the past year. He’s recovering from a skull fracture injury sustained from a dirt bike accident last year. The accident happened last March, and he was hospitalized until December of that same year. It’s been just shy of a year since he’s been home, and I’ve served as his caretaker ever since. He was in really poor shape when he first arrived and he needed constant care. Being the most qualified and willing of my siblings, and after having spent the previous 10 years taking care of my mother, I indubitably stepped up to help my father. Now to be clear, I’m not saying any of this to complain nor call for sympathy. However, being in such a position for a prolonged period of time can surely take a toll on one’s own health, and in late September, I think it finally caught up with me.

I had taken my dad with me to my sister’s surprise birthday party one night. It was a nice gathering filled with friends and family, although it ended up being a short visit for my father and I. After about an hour, my father wasn’t feeling well, and I needed to take him home. I’ve decided to respectfully skip over the details of my father’s condition, but upon our return to the house, he immediately got sick and began throwing up. I did what I could to help him, and once I made sure he was feeling better, I headed to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. That’s when I was all of the sudden hit with an intense pain in my chest and back. Next I began to feel dizzy and short of breath. It felt as though I was having a heart attack, as unlikely as that may be at my age, and my instincts told me I needed to go lie down. Naturally, I was pretty freaked out by it, and I quickly began googling my symptoms on my cell phone while in bed. My search results seemed to strongly suggest that I was having a panic attack. I tried to keep calm and relax, and after a short while, the pain subsided and my breath returned, but I was still pretty shaken up over the whole thing.

Prior to this panic attack, I had been working tirelessly between writing for my website and caring for my dad. I was staying up until 3 or 4 am most nights working on reviews and articles. Meanwhile my sleep schedule had become horribly sporadic. For the sake of my own health, I decided it would probably be in my best interest to spend some time away from working on my site. So that’s what I did and that’s why I’ve been gone. I didn’t intend for my break to be so long, but I struggled to muster up the energy to come back sooner. Even just thinking about the idea of writing this blog post has been a challenge for me, but at long last, I’ve done it. I must admit that I still haven’t even shared this story with my own family, nor do I intend to, since I don’t wish to worry or trouble them.

I suppose I’ll have to take it a bit easy here for the time being. However, there’s a lot of stuff I’d like to work on this month and the clock is steadily ticking. Most significantly is the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. I aim to watch and review all of the films leading up to this final chapter in the Skywalker saga. If you’re not already aware, I am a HUGE Star Wars fan, so I’m really looking forward to re-watching all of the movies. This will actually be my first ever Star Wars marathon. I intend to make a post detailing my planned viewing schedule during the next day or so. Also, while I was away, I attempted to do a 31 Days of Horror challenge for the month of October. At this point I’m not even going to attempt to write full reviews for the horror films I watched, but I’ll at least fill you in on the experience later. I also celebrated my birthday while I was away, and I went to Disneyland with my girlfriend where I got to see Star Wars’ Galaxy’s Edge for the first time, which was amazing and everything I could have hoped for. I’ll try to tell you all about it in a future blog sometime this month.

Well, I think that about wraps things up. I just want to conclude by apologizing for my prolonged absence, and thanking you all for your patience and understanding. I’m feeling excited to be back to continue my movie journey with you!

5 Minute Movie Guy
12.4.19