That summer of 1970 my brother bought a car. "Layla" - Derek and the Dominoes
My sister had been accepted into college.
And I French-kissed Winnie Cooper under the bleachers at the Fourth of July fireworks.
Things were changing.
Sometimes it seemed like the whole world was exploding with new ideas.
Reaching out for new experiences.
Seeing through new eyes.
Wow...
Oh...
Adolescence. It's never a pretty sight.
She wants us..she definitely wants us!
Definitely.
Us?
Why us?
"Why us?" The battle-cry of the 14-year-old.
OK, here's the plan.
We walk past her, casually...
And drop this on her back.
Then what?
Then we strike up a conversation!
Things were confusing, alright.
Forget it, Walter. It'll never work!
What'll never work?
Uh..uh... / Sometimes even crazy. / Uh..
Nothing. Still, I wasn't crazy. Just... In love.
Can I walk you home?
Sure...
Winnie and I had survived the summer of long-distance romance.
In fact, her move across town had brought a new depth to our relationship.
Want a piece of gum?
We shared everything, now that she was wearing my ring.
Hopes, dreams...
Big plans.
You wanna go to a movie tomorrow night?
Sure...
And then after that...
Uh-huh...
Yep, these were golden moments - in a golden summer. When every day was perfect, and you knew it would go on forever.
Except of course, at my own house.
The hell ya think you're doin'?
Driving?
Honey? / I don't want to talk about it...
Hey, Dad? / I don't want to hear about it..
What happened?
Beats me.
This much was clear. My family wasn't getting along.
Watch it! / You watch it!
Mom! / She's hogging the chips!
I'm not hogging them. / Even for us.
Mom - I didn't even...
Maybe that had something to do with Wayne's new girlfriend...
Angela.
More potatoes, dear?
Um, thank you, Mrs. Arnold.
For some reason... My dad seemed to resent seeing his paycheck disappear down the mouth of a total stranger.
The rest of us just resented her in general.
So. I heard you and your pals were out drooling over Marsha Millany at the pool today.
Heh-heh. / Or maybe it had to do with my brother.
Shut up, butthead!
No. / Yes!
Then again... It could have been Karen.
Well, I've finished choosing my courses for the fall semester.
That's wonderful, honey! What are you taking?
Afro-American History, Hindu Philosophy...
Navajo Arts, Sexual Politics...
And English 101.
Huh?
Jack.
I'm not payin' for that.
You already did, Dad.
Are you gonna eat that?
Whatever it was, suddenly everyone in my family seemed to be in everyone else's way.
And vice-versa.
Do we have to watch this?
Why? What's wrong with this?
I hate it.
I like it.
OK...Fine - we're leavin'.
Wait!
Course, we should have seen this comin'.
Mom had been folding laundry every night for three weeks straight.
Even my socks had creases.
I've been thinking. We should get away!
Huh? / What?
All of us! We should...do something together.
The mind shrank at the possibilities.
Monday's Labor Day. We should go to your office picnic.
Huh?
We haven't been in such a long time. We used to have such a good time there.
Remember? / Mom!
I'm leaving for college on Tuesday.
Uh...yeah, I've got a date.
Uh...me, too.
There. Four to one - clearly a landslide decision.
I think we'll go.
So much for democracy.
What's that idiot doin' now?
You know, honey, I am really looking forward to this.
It's been years since I've seen the old gang.
Like who?
Well, like...Charlie Wilson, from accounting. You think he's gonna be there?
He retired.
What about Al Pinella...he had that lovely wife, Nancy.
Sacked.
Ed Berwitz?
Dead.
And that about covered the full range of possibilities.
Detweiler'll be there, though.
Harry Detweiler?
Harry Detweiler - the office clown. Big on palm-buzzers and whoopie-cushions.
The one Dad had always referred to as -
Mr. Deadwood, huh, Dad?
Kevin, that's not very nice.
Does he still have that stupid laugh?
Kinda..
And suddenly, for the first time in weeks... Dad was smiling.
You remember that Christmas party when he came dressed as a reindeer?
Oh...
His nose lit up!
Yeah, and then it caught on fire?
And we were all laughing.
And by the time we arrived at the picnic, things had...changed!
And if an office-picnic was a way of bringing us together, well...
Are you crazy! Huh! / It was the very least we could do.
Look what you did! Look what you did to that car!
Get down from there!
There's nothin' quite as American as an office picnic.
Mountains of hotdogs...
Buckets of soft-drinks...
A chance for kids to hang out with the big guys.
It makes you proud to have a family.
Proud to have a dad.
It makes you never want to leave.
Well...seeya later, suckers.
Where're you goin'?
For a drive.
Hnnn...
Uh...for a walk?
Come on.
Uh-uh-uh. / Yeah, come on.
Somehow Mom's plan to reunite the Arnold clan wasn't exactly comin' off in a blaze of family harmony.
Hey, Arnold? You gonna play in the softball game this afternoon?
Oh, yeah! Come on, Dad - lets's play?
OK!
This'll be great! Maybe we'll even be on the same team.
I could see us now, side-by-side on the infield...Tinker to Arnold to -
What are you talkin' about?
You'd get killed out there.
Yeah, but Dad - / Maybe next time, huh?
Picnics are for fascists.
You know you're havin' real fun when you're rootin' for which hotdog is gonna split open first.
Kevin? Kevin Arnold? Is that you, son?
Uh-oh. Harry Detweiler, himself - in the flesh.
Hi, Mr. Detweiler. How are you?
Uh..Oh!
Hardly recognized you!
Been puttin' hair on that chest, huh?
Y-Kinda.
Fun-ny! Maybe he'd like some hair up his nose.
Say, you remember my daughter, don't you? - Mimi!
Over here!
It's Kevin Ar-nold!
Great. The only thing worse than Detweiler was his kid - Mimi the tomboy.
The one we called "The Stick".
Kevin? Hi.
Mimi?
Do you like boating?
Did I like boating?
Admiral Arnold to my close naval associates.
This is nice, isn't it?
Uh...yeah - nice.
Once I figured out what these big, wooden, sticks were for.
I can't believe I'm actually sitting here with Kevin Arnold!
Huh?
Well, you were always kind of... My hero.
Remember how I used to tag along after you?
You must have thought I was a real pest.
Nah... Nah...
And to think that my dad said you probably wouldn't be here.
Really?
Well...after the promotion and all. You know.
Oh...that. Sure.
Still, just to clarify the position...
What promotion?
The one my dad got. He's vice-president of the whole company now.
But hold on here! Detweiler?! Mr. "Dead Wood"?
I guess your father... ...took it pretty hard.
And suddenly, I didn't feel like boating anymore.
Uh...I think it's time we started heading back.
Already?
Uh, yeah, you know, it's getting kinda warm and, uh...
We could go swimming!
H-here?
Why not?
Well..we-we don't have our bathing suits or anything... And...and, besides -
Kevin... Who needs a bathing suit?
And right at that moment I learned something.
When it came to maritime operations...
Uh...Whoa-ohhhh...
I was definitely out of my depth.
Kevin?
There are times in a man's life when there's only one cure for pain and humiliation.
Drown your sorrows in a cold one.
Thanks, kid!
This, however, was...not one of those times.
Outta my way, butthead.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
I felt rattled - confused. Suddenly I was seeing things in a new light.
A lot of things. Here he came. Maybe he wanted to talk - about Detweiler...the promotion. I know I did.
Dad?
The hell you doin' with that?
Hey! Guys! My kid the beer-drinker.
You stick to ginger ale, OK?
Oh, yeah? Oh yeah! Well take this!
Hey!
I'm playin' in that softball game, and you're not gonna stop me!
Stee-rike!
I don't know - maybe he had his reasons. Maybe he thought he was doing me a favor.
One more, Jack! Throw one more!
Or maybe he was just trying to look good for his cronies.
You call this a game? Come on!
It was humiliating.
And suddenly, I'd had enough - of picnics, of guys who called you sonny.
Hey! What's the matter - you can't do any better than that?
What's the matter - can't you throw a decent fast-ball?
Whoa!
What's the matter - 'fraid I'll knock it outta the park?
I was on a roll.
Hey, Jack! The kid's right!
And then I rolled a tad too far.
Come on, Dad. Throw me something besides...dead wood.
Uh-oh.
I didn't even look where I hit it - just put my head down and ran.
I rounded first...
Flew by second...
And kept going.
By the time I'd reached third, though, I was beginning to wonder - who was minding the store, here?
Jack?
There was only one thing to do.
I crossed home plate.
And kept going.
I didn't do much the rest of that afternoon. Took a long walk...
Got stung by a hornet. Did some thinking. I couldn't understand what was happening. To me...
To my family.
Wayne?
Where's Angela?
Shut up, butthead.
Which I guess, was Wayne's way of saying he'd been dumped.
I can't believe it.
I'm sorry.
Eat it. I don't get it - what did I do?
Why do these things always happen to me?
Maybe it was the cry of every kid who'd ever put on long pants. Who'd ever had his heart-broken - who'd ever been disappointed. In any event...
I know what you mean.
For that one moment, I actually felt..close...to my brother.
I'm outta here!
It's funny - the thoughts that go through your head in those moments before death.
I remembered Winnie. I wondered - who was gonna feed my fish?
Hi, Dad!
As it turned out though, Dad hadn't come to kill me.
Guess you heard about Detweiler.
Uh...
Sorry.
And then I realized - I guess Dad wore long pants, too.
It's OK, Dad.
Was a lucky shot, back there.
Shoulda ducked.
Yeah...
Don't ever get old, Kev.
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. / "Forever Young" Joan Baez
"May God's blessing keep you always, may your wishes all come true"
"May you always do for others and let others do for you"
"May you build a ladder to the stars..."
"And climb on every rung"
Ready? / "May you stay forever young"
Bye, Karen. / Bye kid. I'll miss you.
"May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true" / Karen? Honey?
Thanks. / "May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you"
I love you, Mom. / "May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong"
"May you stay..." / OK. Come on.
"Forever young" "Forever young" "Forever young"
"May you stay..." "Forever young"