Regret

Whenever something bad happens, the thing you want most is the day before back. The day before someone died, for example, or September 10, 2001. It makes me think of two New Year's jingles I remember from my childhood before things got really bad. The first is the Stick Stickly jingle from 1997 that preceded a segment of him reading resolutions that kids had sent in. This was the year before my parents split up. The other is the Cartoon Network jingle from 2001. So much hope and anticipation for a year that turned out to be really crappy. It sounds so sad in retrospect.

When I first saw the title "Tanks for the Memories," I thought they were going to kill off Tank. In reality he was just going into hibernation, but with the way Dash and the others were acting, you'd think he was actually dying, up to and including him digging a hole to hibernate in. The episode even has Dash going through the five stages of grief. There was no letter or diary entry at the end, but you'd think it was an episode teaching kids about death. Sesame Street probably did it better when they covered Mr. Cooper's death, but in that case the actor had actually died. The episode just makes more sense if Tank had died versus gone into hibernation (not that I wanted him to die, especially since Dash hasn't had him as long as the others have had their pets). It made Dash come off as selfish, doing whatever she wants instead of what's best for Tank. 

The theme of "Waves," which I'm still iffy about posting since it's been done to death, is the nature of grief and how to deal with it. Even if some time has already passed, you don't have to apologize for crying. While it can feel like powerful waves striking you down, they will recede over time. You don't have to deal with it alone, either. Also, you should remember to take care of yourself and take things one day at a time.