Veda's poem: SPOILER ALERT

Veda's poem at the end of the movie was really beautiful. It demonstrated both her memory and appreciation of her dear friend, expressed her grief, but also made clear her comprehension that, even though Thomas J. was gone, he would always be a part of her ("he will always be in your heart"). I would certainly hope that Veda stuck with writing because she turned out to be excellent at it. Writing was also clearly cathartic for her.

Also, the fact that she went back to class to read her poem showed that she had grown up a lot. Remember her dad refused to give her money for the class because she had already tried learning the violin and being a ventriloquist and immediately lost interest? She had many excuses not to go: her friend died, she had confessed her love to the teacher, and she had nothing to lose since it was an adult writing class. The fact that she was wearing a dress and had her hair down showed she was growing up as well. Excellent ending to a very good--but sad--movie.