Who is Parachute Man?

As I was coming home from my mom's birthday party at my brother's house tonight, I was thinking about my niece Jessica's little girl, Emma. She kept talking about "Parachute Man." I was slightly curious, but didn't enquire. When she came back in tears because something had gone wrong with Parachute Man, my brother explained.

There was an old plastic toy man with a parachute, and she played with it at my brother's house. (They were popular in the dark ages when I was younger.) It had broken, and they had found an old replacement which had belonged to my nephew. As it happened, the man was missing something, and she was so upset.

I found this kind of odd. I looked around my brother's house at the myriad of toys, and I knew she had no shortage of high-tech, wonderful toys at her house. (I've sent some to her myself!) I wondered why she was so focused on this old school, plastic Parachute Man, and why she was crying so about it. Then, I figured it out.

Between the sobs, I heard her say that "They told her that she would have to wait until another day to play Parachute Man outside with Uncle Jay." I realized that Uncle Jay IS Parachute Man! She had looked forward to that special time with Uncle Jay, seeing how far they could get Parachute Man to fly! It wasn't the toy; it was the time!

We all get so tied up with material things that we forget that when everything is all said and done, what we remember are not the toys, but the times. And, by the way, my son, who Emma thinks is named "Curious George," fixed Parachute Man, and he got to make a few flights!