If you are searching for a show on Netflix to binge-watch, I strongly recommend you watch “The Wonder Years”.
Over six seasons, you will live alongside a boy named Kevin Arnold, played by Fred Savage, and experience the ups and downs of growing up in Anytown, USA during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.
An adult Kevin narrates his life from when he was 12 to 17, telling what he was really thinking while his young self-does the opposite. From the start, you will fall in love with Kevin and Winnie’s blooming relationship and Paul’s goofy intelligence, you will laugh with the Arnold family, but want to smack Wayne for torturing Kevin, and you will relate to the many stages of growing up.
Here are some quotes from Kevin that accurately describe some nostalgic feelings through some of the most challenging years of our young lives.
1. “Maybe that's not exactly the way it happened, but that's the way it should've happened and that's the way I like to remember it and if dreams and memories sometimes get confused, well that's as it should be. Because every kid deserves to be a hero. Every kid already is.”
Has something embarrassing or upsetting ever happened to you and you prefer to remember it a different way? Well if you have, Kevin Arnold says that it’s all right to remember it a different way, maybe a more satisfying way. You still learn from it. Sometimes, it’s better to think of those times differently and remember the good that came from it. As Kevin says, “every kid deserves to be a hero”. So, next time you’re in a difficult situation, be the hero you wanted to be last time.
2. “I wanted to stay there, in that night... more than anything I wanted before. But I knew I couldn't. I was fifteen. I slept under a roof my father owned, in a bed my father bought. Nothing was mine, except my heart, and my fears. And my growing knowledge that not every road was going to lead home anymore.”
Most likely, everyone feels this when they are starting to experience freedom. You want to go out and discover what the world has kept from you for the past fifteen years, but you don’t always have the resources or opportunities to do that. And when you do get your license and have to find a job so you can pay for your car or gas, the reality of freedom sets in. With freedom comes a lot of responsibility.
3. “There was more to that old car than fuel pumps and crankshafts. There was a 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 Dad had put into it. And why it was so hard to let it go.”
In our lives, we have all lost, sold, or given away something that held a lot of meaning to us. And unfortunately, we will have to keep letting go of things for the rest of our lives. Even though you feel that sadness of leaving a childhood home or losing a bracelet your grandmother gave you, you will always have those memories and you will keep experiencing more things that will make your previous memories bittersweet.
4. “Growing up is never easy. You hold onto 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.”
This quote is along the same lines as the previous one. Often, it is said that time changes people and The Wonder Years definitely demonstrates how people change. But as Kevin wisely says, do not “hate each other for getting older”; it’s inevitable. Sometimes, friendships or relationships end and it isn’t always someone’s fault. Personalities, beliefs, and hobbies can change and it may lead to even better experiences and people.
5. “Our past was here, but our future was somewhere else, and we both knew sooner or later we had to go.”
This quote reminds me of going to college. I had times where I really did not want to go, as I feared I would lose friendships and miss people so much that I would not enjoy college. I considered not going and taking a year off instead, but I knew that staying home would not get me to where I wanted to be. Plus, my friends would all be starting their futures without me. So, don’t be afraid to leave people. Do what is best for you and if you surround yourself with the right people, they won’t leave you.
6. “Growing up happens in a heartbeat, one day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone, but the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses, a yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets, and the thing is after all these years I still look back with Wonder.”
No matter how your childhood was, the memories stick with you forever. The lessons you learn shape you as a person. You may not appreciate the lessons while they are happening, but what you gain from them is more valuable than anything learned in school. You experience so much during your lifetime and when reflecting back, you realize that life really is amazing and wonderful.
