The wonder years

Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house like a lot of other houses, a yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back, with wonder.
— Daniel Stern as the narrator, The Wonder Years (ABC TV)

Yesterday I worked out the service and message for my nephew's wedding this Saturday. Tim was the first baby I ever held. He and his siblings grew up with my kids - either we were at their house, they were at ours, or they were all at grandma's. When I was getting fitted for my tux for my wedding Jane and I had Tim with us and we got in an accident. He was less than a year old. Jane was holding him in the back seat, and when we hit the ditch she turned to protect him and broke her collarbone. He was the oldest of the group of kids, so he always seemed to be the mature one... the in-control one... the in-between one. He seemed to have a heart as big as the midwest and I hope he can retain his sensitivity as a doctor after he gets done with his residency. I always liked him, and have great respect for him. It is people like Tim and his bride-to-be Elizabeth that give me hope for the future. There is no way I will get through this ceremony without getting overly emotional. Dangit. I don't want to, but.... the memories.

And we just discovered that our long-time favorite tv show "The Wonder Years" is back on again (in the USA). I found it one night while flipping through some of the channels on our dish that I usually never go to. I thought we had a new channel - ION - but found out it is just PAX, renamed. I don't care for too much else on there, but we used to loooove the wonder years. Being born in 1962 it was like reality-tv for me. In April it began airing weekdays at 10 & 10:30pm ET/PT.

In case you were wondering about picking up the DVD's of "The Wonder Years" (like us), I hate to tell you but it ain't happenin' - due to the cost of securing the music rights. There were a few episodes released - which don't contain the original music - and they are pretty pricey.

A couple of interesting tidbits:

• Fred Savage, who plays Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years, is the real life brother of Ben Savage, who played the lead role of Cory Matthews in another "growing-up comedy-drama", Boy Meets World.
• The background soundtrack heard in the series finale was actually originally produced by composer Randy Newman for the 1984 Robert Redford film The Natural.
• There is no truth to the rumor that Josh Saviano (who played the character Paul Pfeiffer) grew up to become musician Marilyn Manson. Though Saviano - who is now a licensed lawyer in New York - thinks the idea is neat.