“Who's Aunt Rose?” quotes from The Wonder Years

Narrator

I grew up in a neighborhood that was a lot like other neighborhoods. Where the boxes we lived in were distinguished only by the names on the mailboxes, and the cars in the driveways. It was a place where hard-working Americans circled their wagons to protect themselves from the outside world. Our lives were made up of little moments, all delicately intertwined.

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

I had never seen my grandfather turn into my dad, for lack of better words to describe how he lost his temper with me and Wayne. I'd never see that happen again, either...whether the other fellow deserved it or not. [first-draft line; shortened in rewrites]

Narrator

[first-draft epilogue, deleted in rewrites; the Arnolds are driving home from the funeral] ...Six years later, Albert Arnold himself passed away. His pallbearers at the funeral included Wayne and myself. I think we both owed our grandfather at least that much.