Monday, May 24, 2010

Lessons From LOST

On Sunday night, May 23rd, my family sat down to watch a television show that had become part of our family routine for six years. It was the season/series finale of LOST, an episode we had been both anticipating and dreading since the producers announced that Season Six would be its last.

There are a lot of reasons people watched this show. Some loved the spiritual overtones. Many were fascinated with the science. A lot of people were intrigued by the mystery of it all (polar bears on a tropical island and a smoke monster). Those things all factored into my appreciation of this show, but I mostly watched it for another very special reason—it was a show that my entire family enjoyed.

Every week since Kacie was 14, we made a point of watching LOST each week. If it didn’t record or the weatherman interrupted to tell us about tornadoes or hail or some other such phenomena, we would be sure to watch it online. Then we’d buy the DVDs and rewatch the old season before the new season began.

We did it as a family. Then we’d ask our questions and discuss our theories among ourselves. I even read a few online sources so I would look especially insightful from time to time.

But it was a family experience. Some families go camping or hiking together. We watch TV. And of all the shows we watch, LOST and Chiefs’ Football hold a special place in our hearts. (I’ll save a commentary on Chiefs’ football for another day.)

It was fitting that the series finale of LOST occurred just a few weeks before Kacie moves out and leaves for college. She has a new job and a new apartment in Manhattan, and soon she’ll be on her own.

As they said in the LOST finale, not really “leaving”, but “moving on”. And like Jack and Locke and all of the rest of the crew, Kim & I are learning some lessons about “letting go”, with lots of good memories to sustain us. LOST is one of them.

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