Monday, April 27, 2009

1982

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.



I'm going to tell you something. You might know this but either I didn't know or had never thought about it but do you know it's been 27 years since the show Cheers came on. Twenty-seven? Holy God, that's almost as long as my MUCH older brother Mark has been alive. Insert big smile. Seriously though. Over a quarter of a century.

Remember twenty seven years ago (some of you), things were so easy then. Young and dumb. Twenty seven years means a lot of us were in Junior high school or high school. What was there to worry about then? Some test? If you finished 'Catcher in the Rye'? If you had the matching striped shirt to go with your teal blue Forenza sweater?

What's my point? Why Cheers? Why the walk down memory lane? Here's the thing. I think we all spend a lot of time wrapped up in our own heads, in our own stuff. Of course we do. We are human beings. It is our lives. I spent a lot of today doing that. So wrapped up in myself. Tonight while driving a friend popped into my head who I hadn't heard from in a while. I had tried off and on to call her but I gave up after a while, I had a lot on my mind. So I tried again. After our conversation when she said, "Thank you so much, I feel like I don't have a friend in the world, you have no idea what this means to me." that Cheers song kept playing in my head. It was stuck there while I cleaned the kitchen, played on as I took out the trash, wouldn't go away even when I started writing this.

The only thing is about that little jingly song is sometimes it's just good enough when one person knows your name.
Remember that today maybe. We all know when someone starts flying below the radar. At least I think we do. Take a minute. Step back from yourself. It's so easy to honestly tell the people that are important to you that you love them, that you're there, that you care, that you would do anything you could. When it all comes down to it, isn't this what's important? Make a call. It might make a bigger difference than you could imagine.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin

"A friend is one who walks in when others walk out"
-Walter Winchell

"I get by with a little help from my friends."
- John Lennon

9 comments:

Mark said...

This post reminds me of another TV theme song, the one from Golden Girls called, "Thank You For Being A Friend"...

Thank you for being a friend
Traveled down the road and back again
your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant

And if you threw a party
Invited everyone you knew
You would see, the biggest gift would be from me
and the card attached would say,
Thank you for being a friend

Thank you for being a friend
Thank you for being a friend
Thank you for being a friend

And when we both get older
With walking canes and hair of gray
Have no fear, even though it's hard to hear
I will stand real close and say,
Thank you for being a friend

Amy said...

I love that one. I actually thought of that too. Did you know that Bea Arthur just died?

Sue Jacquette said...

"Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead."
- Chinese Proverb

Lora said...

When I was in junior high, I swore that when I grew up all of my clothes would be Forenza, Outback Red, and Camp Beverly Hills.

Kathy said...

Okay Amy, seriously, too coincidental. One day I actually considered signing my name as "Norm" because I felt that your "comment room" was a lot like Cheers. The song played in my head all day long.

Mark, I love the tribute to Bea Author.

And to add to our TV Theme song "good feeling" list:

The Rembrandts (from Friends)

So no one told you life was going to be this way.
Your job's a joke, you're broke, you're love life's DOA.
It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year.

But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too.

Amy said...

Kathy, That's a great one. Thank you. It made me smile. :)

jami~ said...

i completely love this post, amy.
it's so good. thank you.

jami~ said...

...and i love sue's proverb :)

Anonymous said...

ok i love all this sweet stuff. i do. but i have to share my "friend" story. because megan is back in town and she always reminds me of it, friend. she always finishes every sentence and text with "friend"/ here is why.
when i lived in SF i used to go to kinkos A LOT. before we had good home printers etc...and i needed it for printing for business. the girl at the counter was young and a little bit "off". she would always say, "how can i help you, FRIEND?" with a crazy and sort of mean emphasis on "friend". or "thanks for your business, FRIEND" or "that will be 150$, FRIEND"
some days i would totally avoid going in there because i was afriad of what my reaction would be if i got "FRIENDED" one more time. funny but i still think of my kinkos "FRIEND" ....
love ba