Brendon and I talked with his grandmother (aka Nanny) in Australia via video Skype a couple weeks ago. It was the first time he talked to her face to face in about 24 years. After seeing Brendon and talking to him for a bit she said, “We live in a magical age.” And you know – she’s right.
His aunt surprised us with the call and after getting the web cam and Skype to cooperate it was like the Jetsons video calls. As a kid I thought that would be the coolest thing ever and laughed at Jane wearing her fake face when she answered calls in the morning. Needless to say I kinda wanted one of those when they called.
What seemed improbable as a kid starts coming true the older we get. Today another thing happened. Whenever my sisters and I were being complete grumps when we were little, my mom had this little mantra she would say to us: “I don’t want to be happy. I want to be sad.” She always told us it was from her favorite cartoon from when she was little. We never saw this mysterious cartoon - I never thought we’d ever see it, and it was lost to history.
Fast forward 25 years.
Boing Boing featured a cartoon today that sounded like it just might have that line it in. And it does! The cartoon is on YouTube and is called “The Sunshine Makers“. I immediately emailed it to my mom and sisters. It’s a funny, sweet, and silly part of my childhood that suddenly makes a little more sense.
That little discovery might not seem as magical as talking to someone on the other side of the world, but to me it’s on par.
