Since I moved to Philadelphia, PA 3 years ago, my parents periodically send a care package.  These are usually for the holidays, but sometimes I get one out of the blue.  I don’t ask for them, but hey, free stuff is free stuff!  These packages could contain anything from holiday gifts to toys for my cat, Artemis.  There is one thing, however, that is always included in these packages:  Sunday Comics.

I don’t get the newspaper down in Philadelphia, so my parents make sure to send me a bunch of Sunday pages each time they send me a package.  It is because I used to love reading them each Sunday morning while I sat in bed and ate my breakfast.  It was a highlight of each weekend.  I remember reading the comics and being entertained by greats like Watterson, Shultz, Hart, and Davis.  It was always a great time reading the comics on Sunday mornings; but as I look back on those times, I realize that I took them for grated.

As I would finish up the comic, I would toss the paper aside and continue on my day.  I knew they would be there next weekend, so it wasn’t a big deal.  I could count on seeing the same faces that I had seen each Sunday for the majority of my life.  I never even thought there would be a time when I would not be reading the Sunday comics while enjoying a bowl of cereal.  Like many things in my life, I subconsciously assumed they would be there forever.  But, as they say, nothing lasts forever.

As newspapers continue to struggle, I know it is only a matter of time before the Sunday Funnies are a thing of the past.  Those wonderful full color layouts that made Sunday morning so enjoyable will soon be a thing of the past.  Sure, comics will continue to be popular as more and more of them shift to the web, but it really is not the same.  There was something special about holding the paper in my hands for a few moments of quiet relaxation.  The world was busy, even back then, but somehow those comics slowed it down.  They will be greatly missed and hard pressed to replace.

I am glad my parents still send the old Sunday strips.  It give me a chance to enjoy those quiet moments while I still can.  I wish I could say that I cherish every moment with them, but I don’t.  Even now, I still toss them aside after I finish reading them.  Even now, I still feel as if they couldn’t possibly be fading away.  Or maybe I do know they are leaving but I have become so desensitized to change that it doesn’t bother me.  I don’t know which it is and I will most likely never know.   What I do know is that I should be reading the Sunday comics with a greater appreciation, because sooner or later, appreciation and memories will be all that is left of them.