So saga

"I don't see what's so saga about her!" said the 8-year-old me. I was looking at the cover of Newsweek magazine, which had the famous picture of Patty Hearst holding a machine gun. And, as a matter of fact, I did see what was so saga about her. I don't remember it as being blue; I thought it had a black background, but maybe I'm confusing/combining this image with Carrie Fisher's cameo in the Blues Brothers movie, or with Sigourney Weaver in Aliens. I guess women holding machine guns/grenade launchers/flame throwers are just ... so ... saga. I'm not sure why I remember that incident after all these years. I remember my mother cracking up, and the image is/was burned into my brain. It's truly sad that as adults we cannot remember all of our thoughts and feelings as children. We look back on those days as idyllic and carefree, but at the time, we did not savor the moment. If any one of us were to travel back in time or become a kid again, we would be loving it. But that's only because we have a lifetime of experience outside the protective cocoon of our parents' care. The act of growing up and taking on responsibility for oneself gives one the perspective to realize that kids have it made. Unfortunately for the kids, they do not realize this until it is too late. Then they can only look back wistfully at those halcyon days and weep tears of joy/sorrow for innocence held and lost.