Remnants of Us

Set in a conservative, predominantly Catholic/Lutheran Minnesota town of the early 1950s, REMNANTS OF US conveys the full arc of a woman's transformation in breaking from expectations placed upon her by community. Never losing sight of her heart or conscience, Madeleine Hawthorne pursues freedom, emotional and literal, ensuring her son grows to become the man she envisions he could be, unlike the man she married or the forced paternal influences in her son's life. Beginning in 1983, we encounter Madeleine's grown son, Lorne, and observe the emotional struggles Lorne endures as a result of witnessing his parents' marriage dissolve. With Lorne ever faithful to his mother, but hesitant to find love on his own, the story flashes back to the early 1950s where we encounter Madeleine as a young mother and wife to observe the journey Madeleine goes through. Married into a locally prominent family and to a domineering husband, Madeleine endures the hardships of living up to unrealistic expectations of trying to be an ideal wife of the 1950s and rear a child in the manner her husband expects. Slowly coming to the epiphany that she does not want the life she was expected to fulfill, Madeleine finds comfort in the words and guidance of another town resident, Paul Lindstrom. Madeleine then begins a metamorphosis that leads her to leave her husband and battle the prospect of becoming a social pariah. Through the journey, Madeleine struggles against her mother's rigid advice and questions within herself whether the dramatic choices she is proposing for herself are the right ones or if she should follow in the footsteps of her mother to ensure her son's well-being. Finally breaking free of her marriage, Madeleine ensures her son grows to be a man of compassion, unlike the man she married. Along the way, Madeleine develops a deep and intimate relationship with a strong, yet reclusive man. Only then she discover parallels between their personal demons to uncover the secrets behind his past and how his life was intricately woven with the other families of the community before Madeleine and her parents moved to town. In random encounters, Madeleine realizes their affections materializing into love through shared experience and views of life. Madeleine, recognizing social forces surrounding her will not accept her views of leaving her husband and raising her son on her terms, slowly frees herself of the implied chains in her life. She journeys great lengths while conflicting with her mother, husband, friends and community, to ensure history does not repeat itself in the course of her son's life - to ensure her son has the opportunity to love free as he so chooses and to forge an unbreakable, protective bond with her son that cannot be adulterated by those she judges unable to love or understand.