Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me

Listen, I had a rough night. It happens. I got up this morning feeling it in my bones. Gloom. Despair. Agony. Woe! Woe! I needed music.

When All You Need is Now wouldn’t load, and Molly’s Yes wasn’t doing the trick, I turned to YouTube with something very specific in mind. Hee Haw. Yes. Hee Haw.

I was at least half-smiling after watching it three times.

My father was deployed overseas for most of my small childhood. I think he only lived with us for two out of my first six years. Family time was a non-concept to me, so imagine what a revelatory delight it was for me to realize that my mother, father and I could sit down and watch a TV show together. We did that with Hee Haw.

I can remember sitting on the arm of my father’s chair, smiling. I liked the show. It had pretty ladies with shiny hair, and a donkey. And Minnie Pearl. I loved Minnie Pearl. She had hats. I looked at my father, who was laughing. I looked at my mother, who was laughing. I was laughing, too. We were all three laughing at the same thing, at the same time, maybe even for the same reason!

Yeah, we went to Disney World when I was 9, but the best times I remember with both my parents were spent laughing at television shows. Hee Haw and Designing Women being the two that we could all enjoy.