The Braverman's: "May God Bless And Keep You Always"

"I was two years in Vietnam. Do you know what I thought about, what I dreamt about? Coming home, having a family, having grandkids. I dreamt you, Amber. And Haddie, and Drew, and Sydney and Max...You’ve had some bad breaks. You’re not feeling good about yourself...Well boo friggin who. You got to suck it up girl, you’re a Braverman...You do not have my permission to mess with my dreams." - Grandfather to granddaughter

Top 5 Reasons to Give In and Join the Braverman Clan

1. They love each other.

The Braverman's are... they're... ugh, you know, I started that sentence a few times but I'm not sure there's one word to describe them. Aside from fictional, but I have to remind myself of that. All of them are so big and bright and raw and their own special brand of crazy. 


They're ridiculous and too much. I mean they all go to every high school baseball game and every elementary school play. They schedule lunches and drinks and girl's nights out. They work and cook and shop together. Maybe it's unrealistic, but you're telling me you wouldn't like your own personal cheer squad for every pitch? Every meeting? Every shitty day? Because the Braverman's aren't just their for the birthday parties and baptisms, they're there for hospital visits and debt too.


Their love is unwavering and unconditional. They fight loud and hard but it's never the end. Family is forever. Maybe the most interesting love stories in this family are the unexpected ones. Of course husbands love wives and grandparents love grandchildren, but in the Braverman house, there's a bond between uncles and nieces, brothers and sisters-in-law, cousin and cousin. If one of them loves you, they'll all love you. Whether you marry in, your born in, or you made one of them smile one time. 

It's refreshing to see this on TV because there's no back stabbing or wife-stealing or, I don't know, murder. TV families usually hate each other, but in reality, you love your family. All the time. Even when you want to make them shut up by punching them in the face. 


And this family shows that side of life. The part where you can be tired and lazy but you get up and make them dinner because it'll make them smile or you answer the phone in the middle of the night and listen to them for an hour. Maybe you even cancel your plans to babysit last minute or make an embarrassing speech to their significant other strongly suggesting they never break your heart.

These characters are head over heels in love with each other, even when they don't know it or aren't sure or wish they didn't... they do. 

2. They're all human.

This is a show following a myriad of people. Yes, 98% white and 100% middle class. I'm not saying they're diverse, but they aren't all the same. There's an aging vet from the Vietnam war, a young female lawyer trying to make partner, a confused teenage boy... yet there's a moment with each and every one of them where I think, "Man, I hear that."


There's a scene when one of the youngest cousins threatens to run away from home. She's about eight and being dramatic, but she's a kid and not getting the attention she wants from her parents and she's hurt and sad and you know what that's like. Maybe it's not your parents' attention you're seeking but you totally get it. Then later, the grandmother is struggling with what the next phase of her life is going to be. Phase three as she calls it and maybe you're not on phase three, or you're twenty and already on phase seventeen, but you understand the transition and how hard it is to face.

They're all allowed to be who they are and feel what they feel and struggle where necessary. Their age or situation doesn't diminish how real it all is. Going through shit at 70 or 7 is life and Parenthood doesn't take that away.

3. Illness isn't sugar-coated.

Have you ever watched a show where there's a character with alcoholism, so their only struggle is not having a beer after work... or you know, vodka for breakfast? The past pain they caused isn't always brought up, nor is the scars they may have left behind. Or a character facing mental illness just needs to go to therapy and then everything will clear itself right up. Therapy isn't hard to afford or find or endure... that would be too trivial. Or maybe something as serious as cancer or heart disease is on screen, but don't worry - the random new treatment is free and the top rated doctor is around to treat you and only you.

That's not how it works. These diseases, all diseases, are uphill battles and long and hard and not ones you can handle by yourself. Someone has to bring you to your appointments and someone has to let you cry and someone has to feel your pain. In Parenthood, they do just that. Each struggle is real and this show lets the recovery take time. And sometimes the answer isn't recovery... or a cure... it's just learning how to live with it. And knowing someone else is living with it with you.

You cry when they get the diagnosis but you cry harder when they get a hug. Because you'd want a hug. You'd need one. And so do they. But sometimes it's hard to give, and they show that too. Often, we're not the one who's sick, we're just watching helplessly. Or we're scared. We don't want to lose anyone or deal with it. Who likes walking into a hospital? No one. But in Parenthood, they show the reality of being a patient and of loving that patient. They require two different kinds of strength and this show proves the importance of both.

4. They remember to dance.

5. You'll cry.

I'm not entirely convinced I can stress how much of a good thing this is. And I didn't want to watch this show for fear of crying, but then you watch the pilot, and cry, and it's amazing.

I don't want to lie, sometimes you're just crying because things are sad. And you feel awful they're going through whatever they're going through, but so often it's because there's so much happiness and love and support and your heart can't handle it.

Without repeating myself or giving too much away, you'll cry because this show is honest. About heartbreak and parenting and car accidents and moving and school and pregnancy and change. You'll cry because it all reminds you of yesterday or shows you what you hope for their future... and sort of yours.

Parenthood isn't a show about hope, but it never loses it either. It's a show about a family, could be almost any family, trying desperately to get it right. And if one of them is about to give up, the others carry their weight for awhile. They have different opinions and plans and outlooks but number one on their list is still going to be wanting each other to be happy.

And for that reason alone, I promise, you'll cry.