Family. Where has it gone? Faded from our lives like Coca Cola so strong you could barely sip it, penny candy, picnic-like drive in movies, double features, and dinner for one for a dollar. Dad and Mom watch shows in separate rooms, while our children retreat like solemn monks to the solitude of a video game meant for just one. And baby awakes to a world of strangers, seeing those who bore it just moments before it’s time to go to sleep again.
The world was not always like this. Those of you born in the 50’s and 60’s like me, might still remember the joy of family fellowship each winter holiday. When I was young, we had a tradition of playing board games (and I dearly loved them) – and it was /so/ much fun for a family of seven! Even my grandma would come down to visit, and all eight of us rattled little red plastic dice well into the wee hours of the night.
I remember one holiday evening especially. We were playing Monopoly, and my Dad was cheating like always (which always drove us to laughter), trying to second mortgage his property, and making up financial workarounds we had never heard of. We laughed and played, and nibbled on Grandma’s creamy fudge, till our tiny eyes could stay open no longer, and off to bed we went. The funniest thing though, is that the game didn’t end! Sometime in the middle of the night, my Mom awoke to voices – my brothers talking in their sleep in a shared bedroom. And what were they saying? They were still playing the game! Even responding in dreams to each other, with dice rolls and property names and so much more. My Mom called my Dad and they both called me, and we stood there laughing well into the night, till our laughter awoke the gamesters, and then they laughed as well.
I’m sure you have memories of family as well, of days when Mom was not too tired to read a story, and Dad surprised you and your siblings by sneaking unwrapped presents under the tree so very late on Christmas Eve. This is what comes back to me as I watch these DVDs, of battlestars and heroes, of warrior camaraderie, of a father’s love and a sister’s loss, and little boys not so overlooked a caring scientist made him a funny pet, and touched us with the thought. Even our elders were tended to, with famous names from their own past, and values we could all be proud of and aspire to.
BSG was about family, of faith and hope and bonds worth bearing. And that, more than all, is the invisible finger that reaches out while I watch, to upturn my smile. I cannot be young again, but thanks to these little plastic disks, youth is not so very far away…
Affectionately and respectfully,
Muffit
Midnight Monopoly and BSG
