Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Family Ties

My day officially begins with the sound of a door slamming.  No drama...it just swings on automatic hinges.  This signals to me that my two teenagers have once again, made it out the door (on their own) and are on their way, possibly still in their pajamas, to early-morning seminary.  In twenty minutes, they will arrive at church and study the New Testament with a dozen or so other LDS teenagers before their school day starts.  Any teenager is welcome to come study the scriptures with these kids, it's just that Mormons are probably the only ones crazy enough to do so. 

That's how my day begins.  I like that.  I am so proud of them for not only going, but for doing it all on their own.  Even if they discover that the car is out of gas, they still go.  They just take my debit card out of my wallet and leave me a note so I don't try to go anywhere without it.  Dedicated, thorough and considerate...what great kids!


My day officially ends with a sound too.  It is the sound of Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams singing "Without Us", the official theme song for the 1980's sitcom, Family Ties.  Thanks to Netflix, we have all seven seasons at our disposal.  From the Keaton kitchen to the Jarman living room; it's our low calorie, alcohol free, nightcap of choice.

Before we started watching it (after we had finished all eleven seasons of M*A*S*H), I told my kids about how my family used to watch Family Ties together every Sunday night, on our tiny little kitchen TV, while we made waffles.  Move over Norman Rockwell, right?  Sounds downright cozy.  The only problem is...that wonderful, very real-to-me memory apparently only exists in my head.  All other sources say that Family Ties aired on Thursday nights.  What tha??? Hmmm.
All laws of grammar fail me; how can that be?

Nevertheless, the important thing is that it's a happy memory.  Accuracy is optional.