When we are young, we tend to pick up some of the traits
of our parents. Sometimes that is good, sometimes that is not so good. Justin
and Jason have been smart enough not to follow in my footsteps and be a fan of
the Cleveland Browns. Certainly, when I was young the Browns were good and even
world champions in 1964. I learned to love them because of my father. I have
been saddled with that for the rest of my life. The boys, on the other hand,
have never seen success from the Browns in their lifetimes and as a result have
rejected their father’s ideas and been able to avoid the heartbreak that the
Browns manage to bring every season.
I have never been an avid reader unlike my father, but I
certainly did pick up his love of science fiction. For my entire adult life, I moved boxes and
boxes of my father’s old science fiction books around with me from house to
house. Not sure why I did other than to keep a piece of him with me. I finally donated those books to a retirement
community a couple years ago, but what I didn’t give up was my love for science
fiction that my father instilled in me.
Although I still read some, I derive the majority of my sci-fi
pleasure from either television or movies. Because of the current battle with
Covid-19 and the need to stay at home, I started watching some of my old favorites.
A good deal of what has been written by science fiction writers over the years
is possible but there are some things that just are not likely to happen such
as time travel. Despite that improbability, I have always found the concept intriguing.
The ability to go back in time and change things for the
better would be amazing. There was a series on television in the early 1990’s
called “Quantum Leap.” I won’t even attempt to explain the science behind it,
but in the end, the hero of the series, Sam Becket, would travel back in time to
fix wrongs. Try to stay with me on this because it becomes a little out there.
Sam basically takes over another person’s body with their physical attributes but
with his own consciousness. He has a hologram side kick (Al) that helps explain
the situations and possible outcomes. Once Sam solves the wrong, he moves on to
another time, person and place. Sorry, had to get all of that in so you could
understand how it all worked.
Despite the premise, “Quantum Leap” was a very socially conscious
show that very well could have been done today. It touched on issues such as hiring
a Down Syndrome individual, racism and sexism. In one of the episodes, Sam is
transported back to his younger self where he feels that it is his
responsibility to save both his both his brother from dying in Vietnam and his
father from a future heart attack.
In the end, he could do neither. As he talks to Al, he is extremely agitated as
to why he can help other people, but he can’t help his own family. Al does his
best to console Sam by reasoning with him, that he was given a special privilege
in that he was able to spend time with loved ones that he had lost years
ago. Al told Sam that he would give up all
of the success he had had in his own life just to spend one more day with a
loved one that had been gone for years.
Forty-five years ago today, I lost my mother. What I would give to have another day with her.
Just to hear her voice, to tell her all of the things that I should have told
her when she was alive. After a while you forget some of the details, but you
don’t forget who people really were. My
mother was way too protective but one thing I can tell you, she couldn’t have
loved me anymore than she did.
In three weeks, it will be thirty years since I lost my
father. I am lucky enough to be able to visit him occasionally because I had
the opportunity to video record seven hours of him just talking about his life.
This is one of my most prized possessions.
Sadly, we often do not appreciate what we have when it is
there every day. When we lose people, you do your best to remember them, but it
is not always easy. If there is one
thing in life that I have learned, it is best to appreciate what you have and
take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy those in your life because they may
not be around forever. What I would give
for that one more day.
