Last night I was in the family car, my father driving, and my two sisters (one in the back seat and one in the front, squeezed between my dad and myself). In addition, two of my sister's friends were in the back seat. I tried to distance myself from everyone, listening to cds with my headphones. A lame attempt to look cool, I admit, as their conversation would have been a lot better than listening to a cd that I've already heard a thousand times.

Eventually tiring of my charade, I ease my headphones off and start listening to the current topic. They're talking about things that embarrass them. My sister talks about being little and watching those "educational" shows, Sesame Street and Barney. I waited for her to finnish. I spoke.

"Yeah, that's terrible. Back in my day, we had quality programing. I grew up on the marvels of the Care Bears and Captain Kangaroo. That was quality programing."

Unsurprisingly, neither of my sisters, nor their friends, had heard of Captain Kangaroo (though, the Care Bears have recieved and interesting surge in popularity the past couple of years). On the other hand, I was surprised when my father mentioned being young when Captain Kangaroo was on the air. I had realized the show was old, but I didn't realize the show was quite that old.

Then this evening after a long day of work and sign online. With AOL it gives you some news headlines when you first sign on. One of the smaller headlines read "Captain Kangaroo Dies".

I was honestly shocked. Last night was the first time I had thought about Captain Kangaroo in years. To be honest, I saw the show on a semi-frequent basis when I was really little, then I it went off the air. I didn't miss it too much. But it's the sort of show that sticks with you in a haunting way. There was an odd brilliance to the show that makes me tip my cap to Bob Keeshan, the man behind Captain Kangaroo.

So rest in peace, Captain, and thank you.