Family versus TV

Family versus TV watching. I'll be honest; I have always loved watching TV. Mostly sit-coms are what I liked. Seinfeld, Cheers, MASH, Two and a Half Men and Taxi are my favorite shows.

As a kid I couldn't get enough of whatever was on. I remember when we first moved to the country when I was in second or third grade I watched every day after school and all night long.

My grandfather on my dad's side had just retired in his early 60's and lived across the road with my grandmother.

Our family had moved onto their small farm and they had built a new house.

There were some small barns on our farm. My dad had some horses in one barn and my grandfather had some calves in another.

My grandfather would buy a few small calves and raise them to sell when they got bigger. He would buy the cheaper, sicklier animals that the bigger farmers didn't want.

Every afternoon my grandfather would come into our house with a large pail and fill it with hot water. He would then mix some sort of powdered milk with the hot water to feed the calves. Just like formula for a baby, only 3 or 4 gallons at a time.

I guess taking care of the calves was his retirement hobby and he tried to make a buck doing it.

My mom would always ask me if I wanted to put on my barn clothes and go with my grandpa to help him feed the calves.

Once in awhile I would but mostly I'd just stay inside and watch TV. After all how could I miss Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny and Gilligan's Island just to spend time with family? Those shows were so great weren't they?

How was I to know that my grandpa would be dead in 2 years and that I would never have another chance to get to know him?

I eventually grew to love farming myself as a teenager. I carried the hot water to the barn and fed the baby calves and did everything else on the farm. But I regret having the chance to spend time with my grandfather and not doing it. I had no excuse, we lived right there across the road. He came to our house nearly every day. I could have spent a half hour a day with him. I could have gotten to know him.

But no, I had to have my fix of TV.

I saw every episode of every show and all the reruns. I can remember all those shows but I can't remember what my grandfather sounded like or anything he said or even what he looked like without seeing a picture of him.

I missed a golden opportunity to connect with him. Who knows what I might have learned. I never took the time to love him.

Death didn't take him away from me, TV did.

You cannot hope to have a relationship with family or any person without spending some time with them. It cannot happen.

Turn the TV off.

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