Screenamatic Memories

Hans and I are rewatching our personal favourites and going down our respective memory lanes.

It was ASid who suggested that Hans watch all 3 movies of Cars. ASid was 4-5 when the first Cars movie was released, and he was all over it! Between my mother, Bambino and us, we got ASid all the Cars toys from McDonald’s. Hans was 3 when Cars 2 was released, and he was all over it too. We went on another buying spree. We ended up with a whole bunch of Cars paraphernalia. In 2022, when we sold our home and moved, a lot of stuff was forgotten, unwanted or lost in transition.

We were trying to keep it together, whatever it was!

I ended up watching the end of Cars 2 with Hans. As the credits rolled, I saw Dan Fogelman’s name pop up. In a strange coincidence, I have been rewatching This Is Us, and bawling my eyes out.

How is it that Dan Fogelman has been responsible for some of the best cinematic/screenamatic memories my children and I have?

As nostalgia set in, Hans went to look for some Cars toys. He realized that he didn’t have any. Then, he wanted to go find out if he stored any of them at my parents’ home. We were there yesterday, and he couldn’t find them there either. When we moved, he didn’t think about saving his Cars toys. As that reality set in, the boy had this moment of despair. It was like he lost an important part of his childhood.

For a moment, I didn’t know how to console him.

I found the words eventually. I had just watched Season 2 Episode 14 of This Is Us. An entire house burns down, and the mother tells her children that it is just a house. Moments later, they lose their dad. It puts things in perspective. I told Hans that maybe we can buy some Cars stuff online. It won’t have the same significance or history, but that’s an option. It helped Hans feel a little better.

Right now, I am continuing to watch my favourite TV series of all time. The title of the episode is The Car. And once again, I was in tears at the end … and that’s when I felt like writing this post. The episode ended with the dad wanting his family to be ‘okay’. That’s the word he thinks of for how he wants his family to be, and it made so much sense. At this point in time, that’s what I want for Hans. I want him to be okay.