Childhood, Grief, Humor, Life, Things I Want to Remember

things i want to remember – part 25

Kari

i don’t want to lose track of the random thoughts swirling in my mind, so i’ve been jotting them down in the notes section of my phone. i’m sharing them in the hope that they resonate with you, too.

if this is your first visit, welcome! you can find the other parts of this series right here.

1- have you ever noticed that people who predict the future always seem to focus on negative events, not positive ones?

2- i just learned that joanna goddard (cup of jo)’s sister was married to the author of when breath becomes air. (highly recommend)

3- most sympathy cards are just… not great. maybe i should start a company called “sympathy cards that don’t suck.” (just to clarify, i was looking for a card, not on the receiving end—i don’t want to seem ungracious.)

4- i had a core memory come to me the other day while talking about how we used to play outside for hours as kids, with no phones to check in. our parents would stand in the driveway and yell our names to come home for dinner. it was such a sweet little memory that took me back to my childhood neighborhood.

source

5- winnie cooper just turned 50.

6- my attention span has been bad since my dad died. like, really, really bad.

7- one annoying thing humans do is pick on other people’s yards when their own yards are a mess. maybe we should all just focus on our own yards. i’m not talking about lawn care.

8- my friend chris recently wrote about his college days creating a comic strip, which i thought was so cool. it got me reminiscing about comic strips in newspapers—my favorite part of the newspaper growing up. naturally, that led me to funky winkerbean, my all-time favorite comic strip. i haven’t thought of that comic strip in years.

9- my friend jill reminded me of how wonderful it is that we can hug each other again and how hard it was when we couldn’t during the height of covid. it made me think of this photo of my parents finally being able to hug our two daughters after so many months apart:

i’m so glad i took this picture

what was/is your favorite comic strip?

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53 thoughts on “things i want to remember – part 25”

  1. I pride myself on sending just the right sympathy card. There’s no one perfect card as everyone’s grief is different. I prefer the simpler rather than flowery prose. No one can know exactly what someone has lost …

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  2. I am so obsessed with Tundra, I buy a new daily desk calendar every year. So damn funny!

    And I had a huge crush on Winnie Cooper! Great combination of beauty and brains. Speaking of “The Wonder Years,” here’s a fun fact: I met Josh Saviano (Kevin’s best friend Paul) when he wandered into the Brookstone where I worked in Santa Clara to buy a gift for his grandparents. How wholesome is that?! I rang him up and asked for an autograph; he wrote, May all your years be wonder-ful. Something tells me that wasn’t the first time he ever scribbled down those words.

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    2. I had to look up Tundra too because I’d never heard of it! The front page had a cartoon that made me laugh, so now I’ve got a new comic strip to check out. I totally forgot about desk calendars!

      I LOVE THIS STORY! It’s so wholesome. 💜

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  3. Sympathy cards are difficult to buy, especially when you didn’t personally know the person who passed, such as a friend’s parent. The wording just isn’t right.

    I have a Funky Winkerbean story for you!!! Did you know the creator was from Akron? Last November, we were at an Akron brewery/restaurant with our grandkids who were coloring their children’s menus. The server told them what a nice job they were doing and said that her father drew the illustrations on the menu and that he also happened to be the man who drew Funky Winkerbean!!! How cool is that? She was such a nice young woman!

    My favorite comic strip as a kid was either Peanuts or Marmaduke. But when I was in college, I was obsessed with Bloom County in our school paper. I cut out so many of them and put them in my scrapbook. They were hilarious.

    Winnie Cooper is one of the best fictional TV names of all time!

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    1. I totally agree! It would be so helpful if they had categories for sympathy cards like they do for birthday cards.

      I knew he was from Ohio, but I didn’t know where! THAT IS SO COOL! I love that so much!

      Marmaduke! That was my childhood best friend’s favorite comic strip too. 💜 I remember we used to cut out comic strips and put them in scrapbooks!

      It really is, isn’t it?

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    1. yes I have noticed that, and also people who tend to focus on the past really remember the negatives
    2. I had no idea!
    3. I usually just buy a pretty card with something simple and then add my own message
    4. we had to be home before the street lights came on!
    5. I loved The Wonder Years so much, it was one of my favourite shows! Winnie and I are almost the same age!
    6. ugh, I’m sorry. I think that’s natural though.
    7. truth bomb
    8. Oh I loved the comic section! My favourite was For Better or Worse, yay Canadian content! I also liked the Far Side.
    9. god Covid was terrible, I missed hugs so much

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    2. 1- Yes!
      2- I just learned that a few weeks ago while reading an article on Cup of Jo, and I was so surprised!
      3- THAT. Such a good idea.
      4- We did too!
      5- Aww, I love that! Can you believe I’ve never watched The Wonder Years! Mike and I are talking about watching it with Ella soon -he’s seen it, but Ella and I haven’t
      6- I think you’re right. 😔
      7- Sadly, yes.
      8- I loved both of those too!
      9- It really was. I missed them so much. I don’t take them for granted. 🩷

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  9. Not sure what happened there – my laptop wouldn’t let me type out my comment, but NOW I can? Weird.

    I liked the comic strip with the penguin. I can’t think of the name. Am I making this up? I also liked Cathy. Or was it Kathy?

    Winnie is 50? Wow, where does time go.

    I remember running around the neighborhood and showing up for dinner. Our kids did that too. There weren’t all that many kids in our neighborhood, but they had each other. If they got into some sort of mischief one of them would spill the beans eventually. When Lad was in 8th grade, I let him walk all over town. He had no phone. I figured if something happened and he needed a ride home, he’d find a way to get in touch with me. One of our neighbors complained that our kids were running around and I wasn’t outside watching them. I was like, I’m not asking you to watch them either. What on earth? They weren’t toddlers. They were old enough to run around and play. Good grief. Don’t get me started.

    That is such a sweet picture.

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    1. I loved Cathy too! A lot of people in the comments feel the same.

      Our neighborhood was similar—so many kids the same age, and our streets were deep enough in that it felt really safe for them to play. They’d be outside for hours, but I was always home, either inside or out in the yard. I think that’s a big reason why we felt comfortable letting them have that freedom.

      I love that picture. 🩷

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  10. Grief has destroyed my attention span as well. I flit about from this to that. We’re harder for grief to find if we’re in motion.

    I always love it when someone else has read “When Breath Becomes Air.” It’s brilliant. I love it.

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    1. I’m so glad I’m not alone in this. I feel like I can’t sit still for more than 20 minutes. I do think technology plays a role, but it’s been even worse since my dad died. That line—we’re harder for grief to find if we’re in motion—Michelle, that’s powerful. Wow. I’m going to carry that with me for the rest of the week. ❤️

      Such a brilliant book.

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  11. I hear you on the sympathy cards. I have a very hard time picking one out. They’re all so lame. Or cheesy. Or overly-gushy. We should start a business!

    Funky Winkerbean…forgot about that comic! I still love the comics. We get the Sunday Tribune and I read the comics there. I like Peanuts, Blondie, The Lockhorns, and Zits.

    I have such good childhood memories of playing outside in the 70’s. No phones, no parents hovering over us (didn’t have to in those days), no technology.

    When I think about Covid and how we all had to stay apart and how we weren’t supposed to hug, it makes me mad. And sad. I won’t go into it here. Your photo of your parents hugging your girls is so beautiful.

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    1. All of that—ugh, Melanie! Let’s start a business already. We’d be so good at it!

      I love all of those comic strips too!

      I miss those times. We were so present then, and I loved that.

      We lost so much during that time. There’s still this lingering collective sadness and rage. That picture means so much to me.

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  12. Kari, I sooooooooooooooooo agree with you about sympathy cards! To me, they all seem to be generic in what they say. And none of them have any kind of uplifting words. To me, they’re such a bummer. Oh and also, there aren’t any good ones for brother to brother birthday cards. It’s like Hallmark left out brotherly love.

    Great memory of being called inside for dinner. I remember that one too!

    TOTALLY missed hugging when COVID happened. I’m a hugger, so I really missed it a lot.

    LOVE that photo! ((((((((((( YOU ))))))))))

    My favorite comic strip (although it wasn’t a comic strip it was a cartoon) was The Jetsons – as you can tell from my avatar. LOL!

    Have a great week, my friend! X

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    1. Yes! I’m with you 100 percent.

      I’m a hugger too—I just knew you would be as well.

      I love that photo too, my friend. I’m definitely getting it framed.

      Yes! The Jetsons! Such a classic.

      Wishing you a great week too! 😘❤️

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  13. Hi Kari! Yes, please do start that sympathy card company! It would be so helpful. I loved comics in the newspaper. My favorites were The Far Side, Cathy, Blondie, & Peanuts. I love the hugging photo – how lovely!

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    1. I think about all the businesses I’ve dreamed up over the years—I should really start writing them down!

      I loved all of those comics too! Definitely my favorite part of the newspaper.

      I might need to print that picture and frame it! ❤️

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  14. What a beautiful photo of your parents hugging your daughters. I couldn’t visit my mom on her 90th birthday because of COVID restrictions in her assisted living center. Yes, I remember playing outside and mom calling from the driveway.

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    1. I’m really glad I took the picture. I’m so sorry you couldn’t visit your mom on her 90th birthday—that must have been so hard. It really was such a strange time. When my dad was in the ICU, the nurses shared some unbelievable stories about those early COVID days. I can’t imagine how stressful that time was for everyone. The ICU windows still had room numbers from when families would sit outside to talk to their loved ones.

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  15. I used to really like The Candian Family comic Serial For Better or For Worse. Currently I really like Pearls before Swine. I think its cool your friend did a strip in college, that’s a favorite thing of mine at my job whenever we scan student newspapers.

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  16. Okay, this time it’s going to be a for real comment. Like everyone I guess I’m having a difficult time leaving blog comments. Anyhoo…

    Funky Winkerbean! Oh my yes I adored that comic. What a throwback. As for Winnie turning 50, that’s too weird for words. Cannot be, just. can. not.

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  17. I obviously love #4!! My favorite comic is Family Circus, of course! I still enjoy reading it in the Sunday newspaper..and yes, we STILL get a hardcopy of our local daily paper..lol!

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  19. Look at your dad with the beard—he turned into a mountain man over covid! 🥰

    Man, I loved The Wonder Years. I just learned that the guy who narrated it, was the same guy who played one of the thieves in Home Alone. MIND BLOWN.

    We should all focus on our own lawns and let other people tend to their own unless their lawn is encroaching our own. (see what I did there?)

    I agree with you on the sympathy cards, although I never think that when receiving one, only when choosing one to give to another person.

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    1. Yes, he did! I loved that beard on him—he loved it too. ❤️

      YES! Daniel Stern!

      I saw what you did. 🤣

      You’re right! I always think of the gesture. Especially in grief, our minds are in a different place. We don’t think about those things, just the intention. 💜

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  21. Sympathy cards DO suck. They are either too specific, too religious, too positive, or too generic. I usually go with the too generic version because it seems like the lesser of all evils.

    Oh wow. I had completely forgotten/blocked the no hugging thing. Now I am remembering when my parents traveled thousands of miles to join us for a pre-Thanksgiving celebration, so we would have weather warm enough to celebrate outside, and we couldn’t hug one another. At the end of our time together, my mom couldn’t stand it any longer and hugged me SO HARD. I have a lump in my throat thinking about it. That is a beautiful photo of your parents and your girls. Thank you for this reminder not to take any hugs for granted.

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    1. Yes! I felt the same way—I go with that kind of card too.

      Oh, I love your memory. And now they live close by! My parents used to live 11 hours away but decided to move near us in 2016. I’m so glad they made that decision. ❤️

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  23. I hadn’t finished writing my post yet WP….

    Grief has the widest range of negative impacts possible – it can be hard to believe how far the tentacles reach until it’s you there, feeling it. Much love to you Kari <3

    I loved the Wonder Years, although I am much older than Winnie Cooper, it is hard to think of her as quite that grown up!

    In terms of comics, I didn’t read many living in the third world as we did. I do remember my grandmother having a paper where Rupert the Bear was the comic strip. I can’t tell you why, but I found it a most unsettling comic strip.

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    1. WP!! (Shaking my fists at them)

      You’ve got that right, Deb. Much love to you as well. 😘

      It’s hard to imagine—she still looks so young.

      I’m cracking up at the thought of an unsettling bear comic strip and I don’t even know why. Maybe adults shouldn’t always be in charge of comic strips. 🤣

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      1. I’ve felt the need to be quiet about Rupert the Bear, but recently discovered that Himself shares my feeling. We are very different, but seem to share some interesting (and unexpected) stuff! :D

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