Narrator quotes from The Wonder Years

I hate to pop your bubble, Little One, but Mom and Dad are not the sun and the moon. They are people like you and me.

Narrator

Wrong-o, they were Mom and Dad.

Narrator

Maybe every human soul deals with loss and grief in its own way. Some curse the darkness. Some play hide and seek. That night Paul and Winnie and I found something we almost lost. We found our spirit. The spirit of children. The bond of memory. And the next day they tore down Harper’s Woods. Scene changes to present day where a shopping mall now stands. A kid skateboards past initials hardened in cement, identical to carvings seen in tree

WC PP KA

Narrator

And so, we finally got our new car. It wasn't red, it wasn't a convertible... heck, it wasn't even a Mustang. But it was brand-new. And it was pretty cool.

Kevin

What will happen to the old car?

Jack

Not sure. Too old for resale. I will probably have it disassembled and sell it for parts.

Narrator

Of course... Dad got his shot at king-for-a-day... and we were happy for him. But that afternoon, I began to understand what Dad had being going through.

Narrator

There was more to that old car than fuel pumps and crankshafts. There was part of all of us in that car. The places we'd gone, the things we'd done... the family we had been. The family that was moving on. And for the first time... I understood the value of what my father had put into it. And why it was so hard to let it go.

Narrator

There was only one thing more to say. The simple thing, the brave thing, the thing that was in both our hearts.

Kevin

Wanna...study for our history test?

Winnie

Sure.

Narrator

Face it. We were a long way from kindergarten. And maybe we were learning that speaking from the heart isn't always easy. That afternoon, Winnie and I chose to leave those words hanging warm and unspoken in the winter air between us. But I think we both knew they were there... And we would get to them someday. The thing is, we just didn't have to hurry anymore.

Winnie

I did want to kiss you. Just not then.

Kevin

Well then when?!

Narrator

I guess maybe that's when I first realized...that love was gonna be much more complicated. And much... more simple...[as they kiss] than I'd ever dreamed.

Kevin, may I speak to you?

These are all the midterns. All except yours, that is. It seems yours was missplaced. Your midterm is missing and you need a grade. Any suggestions?

Kevin

No sir.

Well, Collins did.

50 minutes, Arnold. You may begin; good luck.

Narrator

As I took that test, I thought about a lot of things: about how I knew him, and yet I didn’t. About how he treated me like a man, and how I’d acted like a child. About how I let him down, and now I wouldn’t. The thing is, even though I could almost feel him in the room, I knew I didn’t need him for the answers, or the praise. I was on my own now.

Kevin

You don't have to grade it...It's an A.

Mr. Arnold.

Kevin

Good job Mr. Collins.

Narrator

Teachers never die. They live in your memory forever. They were there when you arrived, they were there when you left. Like fixtures. Once in a while they taught you something. But not that often. And, you never really knew them, any more than they knew you. Still, for a while, you believed in them. And, if you were lucky, maybe there was one who believed in you.

In Memoriam, Stephen Collins 1919-1970

Jack

Don't ever get old, Kev.

Narrator

I wasn't sure whether he meant me, or him. I guess we both knew it didn't really matter. We didn't have a choice. Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves for growing up.

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That day... I realized something from this man that I was trying so hard not to be like. He understood the value of money. And the cost of it.

Kevin

Hey - it's too bad about that putt.

Jack

A putt's a putt.

Kevin

Coulda made it, Dad!

Jack

Maybe.

Narrator

I guess Dad knew he could lose a game, and still not lose his manhood. His pride didn't hinge on a stupid shot. Or some shiny new clubs. And I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to use my money for.

Kevin

Dad! Can I buy you lunch?

Jack

Whatever you say, Kev.

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It was the first time I ever really said thank you to the man for all he'd given me.

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Winnie Cooper was my first real love. She grew up in the house across the street. She was the first girl I had ever kissed. And now she had broken up with me. But it wasn't until the next day that I understood what it meant...

Kevin

It's just a big misunderstanding right?

I guess, uh... I guess my cousin, Rose, liked family gatherings more than anyone I've ever known. Even after she had trouble gettin' around, she always loved to have a chance to see the folks. As she liked to call us. Course, lately it seems like the only time we get together is, uh... when there's a wedding, or... or when somebody leaves us.

Narrator

As I stood there, listening to Grandpa's words, a lot of things began to become real for me. Aunt Rose. The loss Gramps was feeling. And why coming here was so important, for all of us.

But, I can tell you one thing, Rose is not gone from us. She never will be. She will always be a part of us, as long as we remain a family. Part of... the folks. Part of who we are. Even for those who really didn't know her very well.

Narrator

I guess that's when I understood what my grandfather had been trying to explain to me. That my life was bigger than the little neighborhood I lived in. And that these strangers who surrounded me, weren't just relatives, they were my family. And the death of one affected each of us in some way.

Narrator

Poets say love comes and goes in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, in high school, it goes more than it comes.....And then from somewhere, I don't know - it just came to me.

Kevin

Love is a river, flowing where we know not. The wound is deep, yet the river is wide.

That's beautiful.

It's not that bad - having people who care for you, you know?

Narrator

I guess Ben understood something. Something that I'd learn... in time. But me? I was just a sixteen-year-old guy. And the way I saw it... there were still a lot of mastodons yet to be slayed.

Narrator

And then that man... "Mr. Pencil stubs and Alka-Seltzer"... "Mr. Pay the bills and go to work"... said something I'll never forget.

Jack

Let me tell ya something, Kev... it's not easy being a hero.

Narrator

And I knew he wasn't talking about Bobby Riddle. He was talking... about himself. Some heroes pass through your life and disappear in a flash. You get over it. But the good ones, the real ones, the ones who count - stay with you for the long haul. The thing is, after all these years, I couldn't tell you the score of that game. What I remember is... sitting in that diner, up late... being young... drinking coffee with the only real hero I ever knew. My Dad - Jack Arnold. Number one.

Hey! Send me a Christmas card?

Kevin

I will.

Narrator

But, I didn't. After all, when you're sixteen, eight months is a lifetime. And time had moved on. For both of us.

Narrator

There was a road that ran near the edge of my town. Out where the suburbs were still farms. I used to go there nights, that autumn of nineteen-seventy-two. I was sixteen. I had a girl. I had a car. I had a job. I was full of night... and life. I just wasn't ready to go home. That year, I traveled streets I'd never known before. I pushed against the limits of my suburban life. I had no idea exactly what lay ahead. All I knew was... I was running out of time. And I was gonna bust if something didn't happen... soon. In nineteen-seventy-two, the country was at war. With its armies... with its ideals... with itself. The dreams of the '60's were battling a new decade. And things were happening everywhere. Well, almost everywhere.

Open your books to chapter six, section thirteen. The rise of post-agricultural Europe.

Narrator

Eleventh-grade. The no-man's land of public education.