Over the weekend, we all learnt of the passing of iconic actor Larry Hagman, better know to all as JR Ewing. Before I thought of his family or the aliments he fought in recent years, before I even thought, "I wonder how many people know he was in I dream of Jeanie." I immediately thought of my own grandma and Fridays watching "Dallas" at her house.
You see, at that point in my childhood my grandparent's house was a respite from the tense environment created from my parent's again failing marriage (it failed twice). My grandpa would pick me up from school on Fridays and I didn't have to go back until Sunday after dinner. My grandma would come home from work and make the most awesome and grandma like dinner and then we would watch "Dallas". It was what we did and if ratings are to be believed it was what most people did. As a kid, I remember I liked Bobby best, he was the nice one. Of course, now that I'm grown I understand the appeal of JR so much more. I wonder why I can't like the nice boys now? Funnily enough, I don't remember my grandma ever saying which one she liked best, but I can guess. Once the show was over, I would go to sleep in a house that somehow felt warmer and safer and which was most definitely calmer, certain to wake up to the most awesome Saturday breakfasts ever! We're talking cheese in the scrambled eggs good!
The immediateness of this memory got me thinking about memories and what triggers them. Admittedly this one was a bit random, but having lost a handful of loved ones over recent years I'm beginning to thing that is how memories, especially of loved ones work. Its a song, a smell, a certain food or quote, a holiday, or the random moment when something hits a bit too hard and you wish you could talk to that particular loved one about it. Often times, these memories take your equilibrium for a bit. For me personally though, I am grateful for them.
So, Mr Hagman, I wish you peace and rest. A generation thanks you for the drama and I thank you for the reminder of peace in the midst of the storm .
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