When I was a kid, if you missed your favorite holiday show on TV, you missed it FOR A WHOLE YEAR. Can you remember those days? or for some of you, imagine those days?
The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
When Marcus was little (and he was little for a long time) one Halloween season I remember noting the night “The Great Pumpkin” was going to air. I marked it on my calander as a do not miss. I made a commitment that Marcus and I would enjoy “The Great Pumpkin” together like I did when I was a kid.
Most nights, Quinn dropped Marcus off to me at work after the other office folks had left for the night, and Marcus sat in one desk or another and entertained himself while I plugged away. This was our custom. But this particular evening (the night I knew the show was on) I told Marcus, “I have to hurry to get my work done. We’ll grab dinner then go home to watch ‘The Great Pumpkin.’”
I rushed through my tasks, rushed Marcus to the car, became annoyed the drive-through dinner took too long, then rushed Marcus into the house. Marcus wasn’t non-verbal, at that time, but he was not-very-verbal. I recall him just nodding and following along as I rushed, rushed, rushed to try to get us home in time for a 7:30 TV show. I raced up the stairs, pulled out our TV Trays, felt flustered that the minutes were passing and the show had started and then…
Marcus walked over to the shelf, took out the video of “The Great Pumpkin” popped it in the player and sat on the couch beside me.
I imagine the whole time he was thinking, I don’t know why we’re in such a big hurry, but if it gets Mom home to sit by me for the night, that’s cool.
I had to seriously laugh at myself.
I also had to take the reminder from the universe: Dude – You can “make the time” ANY time. So, Make. The. Time.
I’m still good and bad at that. Halloween is now our family’s “busy season” what with Black Day: The Monster Rock Band, add to that Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and it’s a pretty busy mix. This year we have the upcoming Be Beautiful,
Be Yourself event and follow-up Omaha event and – whew! There’s some going on going on.
BUT, this morning before we head out to a book event at our local bookstore, Marcus and I had breakfast together and watched “The Great Pumpkin” It’s still one of my favorites and I am thankful for the 25 minutes we chose to sit together and enjoy.
This is a quick linkup with our Finish the Sentence Friday Friends . This week hosted by Kristi Campbell of Finding Ninee and also our new friends from Taking it a Step at a Time.
The prompt – “When it comes to Halloween….” Check out the links to linkup your own and/or read more Halloween thoughts.
I’m also going to throw this affiliate link in, for good measure, so if you are inclined to do some Holiday Charlie Brown shopping – an easy link to start with here:
I remember The Great Pumpkin being an annual tradition in our house when I was young (way back when there was no such things as cable and we only had 3 channels). Thanks for the memories.
I know- we’re showing our …age. 🙂
I have loved The Great Pumpkin for forever and am reminded by your post that Tucker hasn’t seen it this year. What’s wrong with me that he hasn’t seen it this year??? I need to find it, NOW, well, not now, as he’s in bed but tomorrow, or Monday… LOL to Marcus getting the whole DVD VCR thing before you thought of it. Happy Black Day, Halloween, all of it to you both. xoxoxo
xoxoxo – And don’t forget. Good Sunday Plan!
What is it about that show that is just so fun! I love Charlie Brown and Linus. And thanks for the reminder to make the time. Whew, I need to slow down sometimes.