There’s A Story…

There wasn’t anything especially outstanding about the meal. We were in a kid-friendly establishment and the kids weren’t behaving in any ways that would have garnered attention.

And yet…

The people at the adjacent table kept peering over at us. Trying, but failing, not to be obvious.

What could be of such interest? Then it hit me.

“You know, we’re not one family,” I tossed over my shoulder.
“Ah…”
“It’s just that our spouses weren’t able to join us for dinner tonight,” I continued.

In explaining the exchange to the kids, SuperMom’s Other Half (SMOH) said, “sort-of like The Brady Bunch.” Except, sadly, the cultural reference was completely lost on its intended audience; not one of our kids has ever seen The Brady Bunch.

Unlike me. Watching The Brady Bunch after school was a daily activity for many years. Thanks to syndication, it aired a few times each afternoon. And at some strange times… (Anyone else recall 4:05pm start times on SuperStation WTBS?)

We loved that show, my friends and I. We would even go so far as to tape [Audio-tape, that is.] episodes so that we could play it back over-and-over again in order to memorize the dialogue and act out episodes.

I’m not sure what we found so compelling about the show. Not one of my friends was a part of a blended family. And I was the only one of my close circle of friends who came from a large family. Maybe it the plethora of story-lines that were clearly written from the perspective of kids. Kids dealing with normative, run-of-the-mill problems such as getting glasses, dating, sibling rivalry, etc. The writers took conflicts to which we could relate, armed the characters with some great dialogue, threw in a few visual gags, and you’ve got a hit. Add an occasional family trip (Grand Canyon, Hawai’i, Kings Island Amusement Park in OH) and presto! The perfect recipe for a classic sit-com.

I do not know when was the last time I caught an episode. But a recent scroll through a list of all five seasons’ worth of episodes makes it seem as though it could not be as long ago as I know that it was. While I don’t love every single episode, each one recalls certain memories from my girlhood. And though no one could argue that it was the best-written or best-acted show of all time, it will remain a treasured part of long ago days.

Take a second look at the picture. Do we even seem like one, big, happy family? Seriously. Would the adults in this shot look so happy and relaxed?

[For the record, I suppressed my yetzer ha-ra and refrained from telling the nosy folks at the next table that we were actually on a date…with our combined gaggle of seven children.]

Remembe(RED) is a memoir meme. This week’s prompt was to think about tv show from our past. What feelings does the show evoke? What memories does it trigger? And with our usual limit of 600 words. How timely that one of my all-time favourite shows, The Brady Brunch, was referenced just the other night at dinner. As always, constructive criticism is welcomed!