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Wellness Check
In any moment
on any given day
I can measure
my wellness
by this question:
Is my attention on loving,
or is my attention on
who isn’t loving me?
That’s by Andrea Gibson. Straight to the core of the human experience. Stops me — can’t read another poem for a few days. Too much practice needed for this one.
Appointed the Poet Laureate of Colorado from 2023 to 2025 (her death), Andrea was a slam poet and activist for gender, politics, social justice, life, love, and death, who performed poems on bar stages as easily as in grand concert halls accompanied by music.
Andrea, who didn’t feel completely like a woman or a man, was somewhere else on the human spectrum with talent, brilliance, and drive.
“Come See Me in the Good Light” is a loving tribute to Gibson’s final years of life. Suffering since 2003, with chronic Lyme disease, Gibson was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in August 2021.
I saw this film with my friend. We both have terminal illnesses. I suppose we anticipated “Come See Me in the Good Light” as a primer on how to handle our inevitable dissolution. Gibson doesn’t want to die, and is desperate for another day, another hour, or just five minutes. After diagnosis, Gibson marries Megan Falley after seven years together. Their love transcends their circumstances.
My favorite part of the film has been enshrined as the film poster. It’s when Gibson and Megan are snug in bed when their two dogs manage to scrunch into the lovefest by surrounding their heads with their furry bodies, settling down in obvious contentment while squeezing the breathing space for their owners, who laugh with delight. Yes, despite the circumstances they find themselves in, they find joy.
Obvious from the long list of executive producers, including Brandi and Catherine Carlile, wishing to help finance this film, Gibson was loved, revered, and precious to many. To hear Gibson recite poetry in the film, and in links online, is witnessing genius and connection with the human condition at the soul level.
The director, Ryan White (“Good Night Oppy”), is an Emmy nominee and Sundance award-winner. This is his first film on the short list for an Oscar. White says Andrea told him “a million times, if people can watch this film and appreciate their lives a little bit more or confront the challenges they are going through a little bit more, without needing an incurable diagnosis to understand that, then it was worth telling this story.”
Credits
Director: Ryan White
Producers: Jessica Hargave, Ig Notaro, Ryan White and Stef Willen
Executive Producers: Sara Bareilles, Soraida Bedoya, Brandi Carlile, Catherine Carlile, Amanda Doyle, Glennon Doyle, Rachel Eggebeen, Galia Gichon, Lauren Haber, Adam Lewis, Joe Lewis, Melany Lewis, Colin King Miller, Kevin Nelon, Christi Offut, Abby Wambach, and Susan Yeagley
Featuring: Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley
Cinematography: Brandon Somehalder
Editor: Berenice Chavez
Music: Blake Neely
Release: Nov. 14, 2025 (Apple TV+)
Official Website and how to see: https://andreagibson.org/come-see-me-in-the-good-light
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