Lydia is in charge of the Netflix queue. It's interesting to see what videos show up in the mail as each of my kids has taken control of the selections. For awhile it was all zombie movies, but then Caleb left for an adventure in New Zealand and the need for the zombie adrenaline rush around here isn't so much anymore. Recently Lydia ordered the first season of Gilligan's Island. She says that she has never seen Gilligan's Island. Wow, I'm pretty sure that is a negative 'mom point' for me. How could I have never introduced her to Gilligan's Island? It's a cultural icon. There are so many references you will completely miss if you don't know Gilligan's Island. Since I've failed her in this area, she took it upon her self to get educated in Gilligan.
We've developed this daily routine over the past few months of taking a lunch break from whatever we are working on and sitting together to watch videos. The other day it was Gilligan. Lydia stuck in the disc and started it up. The theme song began. ...side note here... I'm not a musician, and I have a terrible time remembering songs and words to songs. The rest of my family is amazing! Lydia has a beautiful voice and can sing anything you ask in perfect tune... but not me. This time though, I have a chance. It's the Gilligan's Island theme song for heavens sake... I can sing that! I start singing along. I know all the words... until... "the mov...ie star, the Professor and Mary Ann... here..." Wait a minute... the song is wrong! Did you know that in the first season of Gilligan's Island that the Professor and Mary Ann are left out of the theme song? I was stunned. And of course Lydia is looking at me like 'sure you know the song Mom, right.' I DO know the song!
Can you image Gilligan's Island without the Professor and Mary Ann? The island community would not be the same. It would be incomplete and frankly, hard to watch. First you have Mr. and Mrs. Howell, caricatures of rich people, hardly something you would want to watch a whole show about. Then there is Ginger, the beautiful movie star, on her own, not very interesting. And of course, there is the Skipper and Gilligan. I think Gilligan gets a bad rap. Watching these early shows it's pretty clear that the Skipper is as much responsible for the mishaps as Gilligan, but the lovable, clumsy Gilligan gets the blame every time. The five characters together do not make a complete community.
Without the Professor there isn't a brain among them. The things he could do were incredible! I'm sure given another season he could have invented the internet with that radio of his. He was the logic and without the logic the antics of the others would have never been pulled together into a sensible story line. Then there is Mary Ann, sweet down to earth Mary Ann. Without Mary Ann there wouldn't have been a character with which the average person could connect. She was the girl next door. She was me. (well, maybe not those short shorts) But in that first season neither of them is even mentioned in the theme song. It seems as if the characters had to prove their value in order to be a full part of the cast... to be included in their own song!
I can relate to that. The day before Greg and I were married 27 years ago, he accepted a commission into the Marine Corps. For twenty years I was a Marine wife. They say it's the toughest job in the Corps. Maybe. There are so many things I loved about that life. I loved living in new and interesting places. We lived two years in Guantanamo Bay long before it was the notorious Gitmo... and we loved it. We have friends literally all over the world. I wouldn't trade any of those years or duty stations for anything. There were hard times though. With every move to another duty station there was that period of anonymity. In some ways I enjoyed the first six months after a move. It was quiet. No one knew me, no one called. I could get a lot done as far as moving in and getting settled. On the other hand... no one knew me, no one called. It could be a very isolated feeling.
I can remember so many times walking around the commissary, going to a restaurant, walking around the neighborhood... and worst, going to church and wanting to scream... I AM SOMEBODY! ...there are people who know me, people who love me, people who know my gifts and talents and know that I count, I'm important!!! ...but they just aren't here. And it feels like people are looking right through me. I realize a lot of people probably feel that way but it's something the military families have to deal with every couple of years as they move on to the next duty station. It's probably why the military communities I've been in have been the strongest. We realize you just don't have time for all the junk of proving yourself to others in order to just get to be in your own theme song!
God has also taught me over the years that there are times where He wants me to be still. I can think of a couple of duty stations where I never did really find my place. It frustrated me at the time, however with hindsight I can see that God was putting me in a 'time out'. Giving me a rest time before He moved me on to another place where He had a big plan for me. A place where my talents and gifts would be used. The next place was a place of working hard, full of creativity and a lot of busyness and some of the best times I've ever had. But God knew I needed a rest first.
I'm spending time now wondering where I am. I feel like the poor Professor and Mary Ann. I've lived here for two years and I still haven't figured this out. I've got so much to offer, but doors keep shutting in my face. Why is that? Maybe God has me in a time out again. Maybe he wants me in a new place I've never thought of looking. 'Waiting on the Lord' for direction is a REALLY hard thing! When I think that maybe I'm in a quiet place until the next big exciting thing comes along... it's not so bad. But I sure would like a peek at what's coming next!
The Professor and Mary Ann did eventually get in the theme song... and that's how we all remember it. There really is only one way it can end... "....the Professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's Isle......"
