My LOST Moment

Rebecca, 30 – Smyrna (Georgia, USA) :

I have SO many favorite Lost moments.  Charlie fighting his addiction and becoming a hero in “The Moth” made me like the show. Desmond and Penny’s phone call in “The Constant” made me proclaim it was the greatest TV show ever made.  But, the moment that connected with me (and makes me cry) more than any other is the scene with Jack and David at the end of “Lighthouse”.

I grew up the daughter of a gifted musician (a pianist like Jack and David).  Through my dad’s love of music, I grew up loving and learning to play it.  He and I played duets (him on the piano and me with my bassoon), he would come to my concerts (as Jack tries to make it to David’s audition), and we both had a love for handbell ringing.  There were times when even though I loved playing instruments, I didn’t think I was all that great at any of them, but he encouraged me to keep playing.

My dad passed away in 2006 (when I was 25-years-old).  Two months later, I was introduced to Lost.

So, when “Lighthouse” aired, four years after I lost my dad, seeing Jack talk to his “son” hit home because it was like it was my dad, saying those words to me.

– David:  I didn’t want you to see me fail.
– Jack:  You know, when I was your age, my father didn’t wanna see me fail, either.  He used to say to me that…he said that I didn’t have what it takes.  Spent my whole life carrying that around with me.  I don’t want you to ever feel that way.  I will always love you.  No matter what you do, in my eyes, you can NEVER fail.  I just wanna be a part of your life.

Jack’s words made me think back to one of my last big memories of being with my dad, a year before he died.  I was moving to another city for a job and on the last night I was with him and our handbell choir at church, he told the whole room how proud he was that I had picked up and had come to love handbells as he had.  Still makes me tear up to remember that because even though I felt like I struggled with music, it was just enough for my dad that I developed a love for it as he had.

My dad was no saint and neither am I.  He had his flaws.  I have my flaws.  We had our disagreements, but we also had going out for pizza moments like the Shephards decide to do at the end of this scene.  Hearing and seeing Jack tell David that he will always love him felt like my dad was still with me and continuing to encourage me through my TV. As I carry on living after my dad’s death, I still have feelings of inadequacy and fears of failure, but as a Christian, I also felt like Jack’s words were my Heavenly Father’s.  I may have lost my earthly dad, but my Heavenly Father still wants to be a part of my life, I can never fail in His eyes, and He will always love me.

Just as David’s existence helped Jack with his father issues, I felt like this scene helped me with my own, in an emotionally profound and spiritual way.