Memories of Higgins: Speak Like a Child

Hey there bud. Hope you’re doing a-okay. Remember me?

Okay, maybe that was the wrong question to ask, because by the time you watch this video, it’ll probably be 20 long years already. It would be very surprising if you actually remember to watch this after all that time. I don’t remember you being very good with remembering important stuff anyway. Not for school, not for house work, not for that cutie down the street…

Alright, alright, I digressed a bit there. Time to get back on topic.

How are things? Did you finally get into that high school you’ve so wanted to enroll in? Finally got the permission to buy the neighbor’s open-top red Mustang? Still having trouble learning how to do a glissando properly? Man, I can only imagine how weird things might be after two decades. I wonder if they already have hoverboards or actual androids and stuff there. Must be nice to be living in the future, huh?

How’s being an adult like? Was going through puberty a really bad experience like what they say? Did you finally get that ‘growth spurt’ thing they kept talking about in health class? It must be really nice, finally getting to be an adult, no? Getting all toned and ripped with all those muscles. Finally growing a decent mustache. You can work your hair out whichever way you want, and no one will tell you how to do it 'properly'. The girls must be flocking to you now. You must be a very lucky guy.

Well, that’s just me going overboard with the wishful thinking, I guess. It can’t possibly be all that good for you. I mean, in your time, it’ll be 20 years since your Dad died. Maybe you’ll still be living in that dingy old apartment you had to move in to cut back on house expenses. At least the outstanding bills will be paid over with before then, so there’s some consolation. Still, all your old friends, the ones you’ve been hanging out since first grade, the ones you left behind in Kalamazoo? They’d probably forgotten about you right now. It’s fairly hard to stay connected, after all, and that electronic mail thing they’ve been talking about is a real pain to work with. Maybe you got lucky and made more new friends here, I don’t know.

Now that I look at it, maybe being an adult isn’t really that good after all. You’re probably hurdling more problems now than just worrying about passing that next test or finishing that homework or slipping that letter into your crush’s locker. Maybe you’re the only one working for everybody in the family. Maybe you’re the one with all the responsibilities to handle now. Must be real tough to work with, being the BIG GUY that everyone leans on. All the troubles in the world might be bearing down on you now.

Still, with all the wrong things that might be going on with you now, you just have to remember that the bad stuff is temporary. It's not like a 'woe-upon-me-my-family-and-my-successors' deal is the story of your life, right? Tough times always fall on tough people, right?

Look here, dude. Whenever you’re having a hard time, or you’re losing your way, or you just think life totally sucks in your general area, just remember Old Man Hobbs. You still know him, right? The old grocer five blocks from where you used to live. He always had a good thing to say and a nice tune to play to you when you were down in the dumps. Yeah, just remember the thing he always said to you to cheer you up, back when he was still alive: Life ain’t always sunshine an’ rainbows, son. Sometimes you get the notes wrong, sometimes them audiences don’t appreciate what you be playin’ for ‘em, an’ sometimes you forget yo’ mutes at home an’ ya have to make do with that plunger they be havin’ in the backroom. But that don’t matter none, son, ‘coz it’s all gon’ be alright in the end, so turn that frown upside down and play a jaunty tune to shoo them blues away.

Having trouble remembering? Here, let me play you that tune you always loved to hear; the tune that got you to learn how to play the B-flat trumpet in the first place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_f_mMJAezM

I don’t know how things will turn out for you twenty years from now. Things might get rougher, you might lose some of your friends, you might meet another girl you might like. We really won’t know how your life will be. Just remember, if you’ve gotten into a snag and you need a few words of encouragement, I’ll always be here, ready to turn that frown of yours around. You’ll be out of the dumps in no time, for sure. Keep on trucking, Future Me! Ain’t no out-of-tune trumpets can slow you down!

<<Oh man, I can’t believe I’d actually do what Faye did. I bet the guys will laugh at me when they find out abou—OH CRAP THE HANDYCAM’S STILL RUNNING>>

--Electrician’s Mate First Class Darren Foertmeyer was undergoing routine maintenance checks of Higgins’ electrical systems when the LA attack commenced. He did not leave his post until after the forward engine room was hit. He scrambled to assist in patching up damage while ensuring that vital electrical systems did not suffer catastrophic hits. He would be one of the last fatalities of the crew after he was caught in secondary explosions while attempting to fix several wirings connected to the knocked-out fire suppression system in a passageway in the destroyer’s stern. He was 31.--