Empty Nest

Empty Nest

by

Patricia G.

   A few weeks ago, an Empty Nest marathon came on TV. Empty Nest was a sitcom in the 80s about a doctor who reconnects with his two grown daughters after being widowed after thirty years of marriage.
   I tuned into the marathon, and when I saw the family dog on the screen, I immediately thought Dreyfus. And I was right. I knew the dog's name. I hadn't seen the show in over a decade. I couldn't remember any of the topics of any of the episodes I had watched as a child or any of the main characters' names, but I saw the dog and knew it was Dreyfus. Why? What was so special about the dog that his name stayed in my memory all these years? I have no idea.
   I mean I can't even recall all of the words to "The National Anthem". I don't know why movie popcorn tastes better than any other popcorn, and I couldn't tell you how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop if my life depended on it, but I know the Empty Nest dog's name?
   As I continued to watch the program, the family's next door neighbor came into the scene, and I thought Charlie. And I was right! What the heck is wrong with me?