I totally understand that feeling of isolation and not knowing anyone who was just as affected by this story as I was. To add to my pain, I seem to have watched this movie 9 years too late (first viewing june 2014), after majority of its fandom kinda...dissipated.
As to lovable moments of the movie...I doubt this hasn't been mentioned yet, but it absolutely melts me to the bone when Ennis sends Jack these brief subtle looks of absolute and utter affection - e.g. just after "you'll run them sheep off again if you don't quiet down" and "well, you probably deserve it". It truly sums up everything Ennis feels, but can never say. At the same time, I love how these looks are being sent after some -also rare- carefree teasing on Ennis's part - uber cute
Another lovable part for me is the scene when Junior visits Ennis in his trailer, when you can clearly see a few times how much Ennis is still gripped by grief (his absent look out the window when Alma Jr says Kurt loves her) and when he makes hints only he understands (and probably wishes he could share with somebody someday), such as "when you got nothing, you don't need nothing" and "I guess you're 19, you can do whatever you want, is that right?" (am I the only one who sees more than just smalltalk in this question?)