"D'oh!" -- We Are All Part of the Simpson's Family
By Angel Luna

"D'oh" is more then just an expression, "d'oh" is the way to be. How many of you would have always wanted to live in the Springfield we all saw once a week for years? I met the Simpson's back in the 90's, I was 8-years-old, and it was in my living room in Oaxaca, Mexico. Bart Simpson was four years older then me. It was a very weird meeting because I never saw them before, and just for them to be chilling in my TV was a little bit odd, but after a while it became part of my reality. They were yellow and funny looking, I was brown and human looking. They were also Americans, but spoke a very clever Spanish through my screen. I was real and they were also real in their own way. And now, as I turned 25, now living in San Jose, California, the Simpson's just celebrated their 20th Anniversary on the air.

The first glimpse of their show got me hooked and I became devoted to the Simpson's just like the rest of everyone I knew. I never had an experience like my religious ritual that involved to stop any activity from 8:00 pm till 8:30 pm and joining the world's favorite yellow family. My mom didn't really approve at first but with time she gave in and she would actually warn me about 8pm being near by.

The Simpson's to me is a memory that I hold very close to my heart. I grew up watching this yellowish family during my chilhood and my teenage days, and they became like family. Not to take away from my real family who I love and admire, but Homer, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Marge where my TV family. We had great times together and we still do.

I remember being in front of the family TV set in our living room in Oaxaca waiting anxiously for the show to start. I don't think any other show would had such an impact on my generation as the Simpsons, just because this show is so complete, yet still leaves room for imagination. Let me quote South Park is saying, "Well, the Simpson's did it first."

I was facinated with the way that the Simpson's lived their life. Bart was a role model not only because he was super cool but because he was the fearless kid that didn't have any second thoughts about putting a smile in your face by doing some crazy pranks. I wish I still had my Bart Simpson bootleg shirt that my grandmother got me at the fleamarket back in the day. The shirt read classic Bart philosophy,"Eat my shorts." A phrase that I never got or understood, but I always refered as one of the only things that I knew how to say in English back then. Plus, wearing the defiant Bart, gave me a status symbol, telling the world that I too could rebel.

I learned alot of English from the Simpson's. I had some VHS tapes that my uncle taped for me from California, and it had some really cutty episodes and actually a video for one of the songs from the Simpsons album "Do the Bartman." It was one of my most valued treasures.

I never thought that this show was going to grow with me the way that they did. It felt almost magical the way that we went through stuff together like we were partners in crime. I can compare my life to different episodes of the show. In my young mind, this show made me realize that you don't always have to subscribe to the ideas of others and you can always make your own decisions. Homer has been more like a father figure to me not only because his patriarch figure in the show, but because I have learned to love all the trouble or adventures that he got involved in. Homer made an impression on me, not because his fat, dumb and stupid act was comical, but because in the end he was brave and wise. Brave because he doesn't really care about looks or ideology, he is a man that knows what he wants and when he wants it. Wise because he is probably not the brightest mind, but he has a big heart that make him the perfect dad to have.

After twenty years of laughs and tears the Simpson's are still the greatest show on earth. They have earned the title in my list as the "jefes of jefes," or what it means to be the "big boss." I cant wait to have kids and share with them the love that I have for the Simpson's and to introduce them to grandpa Homer. So big ups to the Simpson fans around the world, thanks to you this show is possible and we are all part of the same family, yes the Simpson's family.