Sometime ago I discovered a show that my father used to like on PrimeVideo. I was very excited to discover 8 seasons available for a total of 128 episodes.
In looking at the years each season came out, I realized that my father could have only been alive for part of the first season. And yet, I have such distinct and pleasant memories of sitting and watching the program with him. In fact, I even remember him telling me about this new show and how much he enjoyed it. He encouraged me to watch it.
Sometimes when my mom comes to visit, we’ll sit together and watch a couple of episodes. Of course it’s not the same as having my father in the room, but it creates the illusion of the times we spent together all watching the same thing, at the same time. Laughing, or groaning collectively, at the same parts in the show.
Usually I like to watch it when I’m feeling a little down, or I need some comfort or a light-hearted break for my brain. Even watching it by myself, because honestly it’s the kind of show that most other people don’t enjoy watching, I can still feel that connection. The silent, inherent understanding that my father and I can still appreciate and delight in the same things, even though he’s no longer around physically.
Since most of the shows on cable TV are pretty awful, I do enjoy all the ways I can now watch things on demand. However, I can’t help but wonder if we sometimes miss out on making an effort to watch things together, knowing that it’s so easy to watch something later, on our time, on our own schedules.
Of course one of the big benefits of having things available on demand is that we can coordinate to watch something together, like a movie or show, when it’s convenient for everyone involved. It just seems that finding that suitable time gets harder and more challenging all the time.
It was a long winter and a very long, cold spring in Canada so I was a little sad to notice I’m almost finished with season 7 yesterday. But when I’m done with the whole series, I can always go back and watch the reruns again, on demand.
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