Sunshine Superman

I have no idea what my parents were thinking, I should probably ask them if they remember now. But back in 1968 when my brother and I were the tender ages of 9 and 7, my parents took us to the drive in where the feature show was "Night of the Living Dead."

I remember much of what I saw vividly, particularly the little girl eating her own mother's heart after killing her with a garden hoe. At this point I wonder if this really happened in the movie, but I'd swear it did, I suppose I should watch it just to see how accurate my memory is.

As you might guess my brother and I didn't handle this fare very well, and my parents ultimately had to make an early departure from the movie. We were there in my dad's old 1960 Ford Sunliner, this huge wide car that had holes in the floor (I used to love watching the pavement go by as we drove along.) I remember it swaying as we backed out of our spot and started to pull away.

At that moment my dad turned on the radio, and Donovon's "Sunshine Superman" was playing and the whole scene was cemented in my mind. The old heavy car swaying, the song playing, the images on the movie screen and the entire scene of all the cars at the drive-in in the dark.

I remember that I had nightmares for the next couple of weeks afterwards, but oddly, the memory of that moment when we were leaving isn't a bad one for me. I've got this song in my music collection and play it every so often. It reminds me of that time, that car, and so many other things.

Again I really need to see if my parents remember this. I know my kids are going to have moments they recall for us once they're grown up that will call our judgement into just as much question. Hopefully, though, like my memory of "Sunshine Superman" they'll have good memories that come out of those mistakes as well.