End of an Era

It's been a long and wonderful relationship.

But today, it ended.

Farewell, television. 

 I can still remember when I was about 10 – my mother, brother, and I had been shopping when - driving in the driveway - we saw a strange glow coming through the front room window – we dashed in to see our father calmly watching a brand new television...we thought we were so cool. Every day after school my brother and I would rush home, do our home-work, and turn on the television – waiting for 5:00 to come. We would sit transfixed at the “TEST PATTERN.”

For most of those years since that time, I've had a television pretty close by(except for the year we decided to turn it off as an experiment when our kids were younger....the experiment failed and we turned it back on!)

But, now, there is no turning back...we disconnected our service.

We are drifting into new territory. We will now talk to each other after dinner.

“Hello...how are you...how was your day?”

“Fine, thank you, and yours?”

“Well you should know, you were right here with me all day!”

No more Shark Tank! I miss it already. No more Masterpiece Mystery or any of the BBC programs. No more KSL news at noon. No more NOTHING.

And, I am left to wonder, did we make a mistake? Will we be sorry? Will we spend that money saved wisely or squander it on trivial things like fruits and vegetables (they are pretty pricey right now!) Will we wonder what to do when we usually settled down to watch the evening news? Will I get up at 3 a.m. and be sorry that I can't watch infomercials! Will any of our grandchildren ever come visit us any more? When people's conversations are all about recent television and news stories, will I feel left out – “I had no idea that Texas ceded from the Union?!?!??!?!??!”

Well, too late. It's done.

And, I'm already feeling like something is missing...oh, yes, it's time for the six o'clock news....