I had absolutely no idea what I was doing on the evening of April 22nd, 1978, until I stumbled across this clip on YouTube.
Then the evening started reconstructing itself. Dad and I were home alone that night. Mom and Julie were presumably doing something together--possibly school related?--but were was John? Odd that he would have been off somewhere without me.
But, regardless, that was the case. Dad, me and Saturday Night At The Movies. The weird thing is, watching this was my idea. I remember that, but I have no recollection as to why I would have wanted to watch. It wasn't to make fun--Dad wouldn't have been the proper viewing partner for that. But I remember actively reading Dad the TV Guide listings for everything else that night and making a strong case for Airport '75. I guess...I was in the mood to watch Chuck Heston in shades?
Anyway, it started, and Dad and I were enjoying--he laughed at some of the corny humor involving George Kennedy, and he actively watched, instead of leafing through a magazine as he sometimes did during evening TV hours. Maybe he sensed this was a rare opportunity for the two of us to bond over something, however unlikely?
Maybe forty minutes in, conveniently during a commercial break, we heard a car coming down the lane. Not Mom, not John, too early for them to be home--though I have no memory of where they were, they must have told us when they'd be back--so it must be...company? Sure enough, it was my brother Keith and his family, which meant visiting, which meant not seeing the rest of the movie.
"OK if I finish watching this upstairs?" I asked Dad without waiting for the response and headed to my room, swinging through the kitchen and scooping beloved cat Farrah off the kitchen counter on the way. (TV is always better with a viewing companion, even one that's furry, multi-colored and barely senient.) I pulled my door shut, plopped the cat on the bed and watched the rest of the movie on a small black-and-white screen. It wasn't as good as the Quasar in the living room, but then again, Airport '75 isn't exactly noted for its bold use of color. I had a good time watching it, although it failed to keep Farrah awake.
Why do I remember this evening? Or more to the point, why had I forgotten it completely until stumbling across this promo? What other memories reside perfectly-formed in my head, waiting only for the proper trigger to release them?
