By Edward A. Forbes
The Bulletin
I hate to admit to being a huge fan of a network TV program, but I was a devoted fan of “The Big Bang Theory.”
It ran 12 seasons from September 24, 2007, until May 16, 2019. I mourned its demise, but I had also become a fan of a prequel “Young Sheldon” in 2017. The new series chronicled the development of Sheldon Cooper in his childhood.
I fell in love with that series in a different way than I had loved its predecessor. I liked all the quirky characters that made up the family and associates of young Sheldon.
I loved the fact that even as a child Sheldon was different and found acceptance difficult. In his case, his youthful arrogance and faith in his “superior” intelligence made that lack of acceptance of little importance to him. I loved and envied his impervious indifference to being different. I was always a bit of an outsider in my youth but was never impervious to it.
In the original series it was mentioned that his father passed away during Sheldon’s youth. When “Young Sheldon” ended, they decided to include that moment in the last episodes. I was stunned how those episodes affected me. I watched with tears in my eyes as the family dealt with their loss.
I lost my father on July 12, 1984. My son, Edward Westveer Forbes, or “Wes”, as we call him, was born Oct. 18, 1984. It has always been a source of regret that they never got the chance to know one another.
They would have shared a love of the outdoors and the hunting and fishing that was always a part of my father’s life. During my youth, I only got to spend two weeks a summer with him, and in my later high school years, my work made that visit difficult. I got to spend more time with him and get to know him after I graduated from college.
I went fishing with him, but I read a book while he caught his and my limits. I initially tried to become a successful angler, but I never developed the knack. I merely fed the fish. Wes would have fished with him, and they would have enjoyed it.
My dad’s health began to decline in 1982, and myself and my little family began to visit him every two weeks ostensibly to mow the grass of a vacant lot he owned near Palacios.
We usually spent the weekend with him and his wife. They cooked (fish, of course) for all of us. We sat and talked or watched television together. We lunched at Peterson’s Café in Palacios or Saenz Mexican Restaurant in Van Vleck.
We played crochet in his yard or fished. We became friends as well as father and son. He got to be there at the birth of my daughter and to spend nearly two years watching her grow. These times are the ones I will always treasure.
Maybe that tear I felt at the Cooper family’s loss was for all of us that have lost a beloved parent. I offer a virtual hug to each and every one of you.
(Edward Forbes wants to hear from you. Email him at eforbes1946@gmail.com or send comments by snail mail to The Bulletin, P.O. Box 2426, Angleton TX. 77516.)
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