Saturday mornings should always, no matter what, be spent watching Spongebob on Nickelodeon. No exceptions. Even today, every episode I watch is laced with a memory. These memories span from when I was seven, hunched over on the dog-hair coated carpet, with my eyes fixated on the little yellow sponge causing havoc with his star-shaped pink friend, Patrick. My family’s television was a giant black brick that lived in a corner of the family room; it’s now deceased and replaced by a younger, silver, thin and pretty Panasonic LED LCD TV (whatever that means).
One Saturday morning my family did not watch Spongebob. Rather, two of my brothers, my parents, and I hoped in a car and traveled 3.5 hours to Packer territory. It was a great weekend, despite being Bears’ fans.
Nestled in this infamous minefield of green and yellow, is a place of a more refined green and shimmery gold—it is St. Norbert College. My cousin, Nicholas, graduated from this beautiful school and, more importantly, is still a Bears fan. But, before the graduation, we gathered and watched as he swore his life to one of the greatest institutions in the world—the United States Army.
His back straight, his shoulders square, his dampened eyes glistened. Nicholas was quiet—he did not have to say anything. Immediately I was overwhelmed with love, gratitude, and courage. The stillness in the room made me feel like Raven for the once popular TV show, That’s So Raven. Raven, a teenage psychic, randomly glimpsed specific future events somehow intended to impact her life. First, her mind zooms through a kaleidoscope of colors and then she sees the event in the future. Similar to Raven, although without the colors and the foretelling of years to come, I had a chilling and wide-eyed glimpse at what my family’s past entailed, and how it has affected everything that has come to be today.
One of my great-grandfathers served in World War I. Both of my grandfathers joined the military and one served in the Second World War. My grandfathers survived their tenure and went on to have nine children each. My cousin Nicholas is to follow in their footsteps by pursuing a life in the military and creating a legacy worth celebrating with each waking moment. Observing Nicholas’s first salute from his 95 year-old great uncle, a WWII veteran, is indescribable. Watching this amazing experience while listening to the recitation of the Preamble of the Constitution brought tears to my eyes. I sat reflecting on the importance of family and history; why were these topics and feelings so foreign to me?
Our culture has forgotten its basic core. It has forgotten its history. It has forgotten its roots. Today, we have trouble looking into each other’s eyes, we are afraid of the silent moments in life, and we are fearful of being ourselves, which can be totally ridiculous. Social media is to blame. This disengagement from life in real-time has become a “study of Wumbology” in the words of Patrick Star—nonsensical, narrow-minded, self-interested, and just plain stupid.
Our discomfort in this contemporary world can be remedied through family and real relationships. The silence before Nicholas’s speech spoke louder to me than anyone’s words could have. I glanced around the room; everyone was smiling—enjoying each other’s presence and the life of my cousin. This is the type of experience no one can understand via iMessage. I felt my uncle and aunt’s admiration and pride as they watched their son become a defender of the United States Constitution. I felt my cousin’s love as he thanked each of his fellow ROTC cadets and his commanding officers. I felt the courage my cousin possessed as he entrusted his future life as a Second Lieutenant Officer to the United States Army in the far-away state of Alaska.
I spent the weekend valuing the time given to me to be present to my family. As much as missing a few episodes of Spongebob was devastating, being there for my cousin, surrounded by family, was an incredible moment. I saw Nicholas become Second Lieutenant Keller. After the commencement, we all gathered for dinner. Before we ate, we began with a prayer thanking God and the great company He provided. We ate, drank, and were merry—as a family.
Raven placed a tremendous amount of value into what she saw in the future. However, I believe looking into the past reveals much more about the present and the future. We must not forget where we are from—we must not lose ourselves in the future. Reflecting on the past serves as a better guide than any even Christopher Columbus could desire.
In addition, it is not the Spongebob Squarepants episodes that are importance; rather the memories those tales evoke. My family would sit together, four squeezed on the couch, two laying on the floor, and the other two (usually the early birds) in the reclining chairs. We watched Spongebob as a family. We quoted Spongebob as a family. We laughed about Spongebob as a family. And we are absolutely ridiculous as a family.
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Images 1, 2 from author