How the show affected me

This is just a personal reflection offered mainly as a tribute to these two men and their long working relationship, which I greatly appreciate.

After my mother left my father and I moved in with my grandmother and my two aunts. The house was busy when everyone was there. My father worked third shift and my grandmother worked during the day. Once my dad moved to days I and my aunts moved out I was left alone for very long periods of time. Especially in the summer. I wanted to see so many movies. I was a HUGE movie buff. I remember how much of a thrill and a treat it was to get to go to a theater. I would get excited when I realized that a movie was only half over "a whole more hour to go probably!"
With no internet I had almost no source to see even trailers of films. There was one outlet though: these two guys. I couldn't wait for their show to come on. I got to see some clips and they told me how the film made them feel.
Over the years I would revisit the show off and on. It wasn't until my twenties that I started to really notice how well thought out their critiques were. What most people were getting out of the show the whole time I didn't really "get" until late in the run. I loved hearing Siskel say "woooow" in response to a film Ebert liked. I still imitate him whenever I hear bad news or disagree with someone. I usually agreed with Ebert but was very impressed with Siskel's sensitivities. Unfortunately I only discovered their impressive dynamic with roughly a year left before Siskel's passing. I still watched but it was never the same. That's not a knock on Roeper BTW, I really thought he was a gem.
Now that they are both gone along with the show I feel like my youth went with them. I feel like my time is sort of locked in the past with these two guys to a degree. It was simple and satisfying to have only one source to indulge my desire to see film. There really can be too much of a good thing. I have so many movies on my DVR that I can delete 40 minutes in if I'm not getting what I want out of a film. I only walked out of three movies to even use the restroom my whole life before technology gave me such abundant access. There has been good here too as I have been able actually SEE these movies I missed. I don't mean to sound bitter about these great advancements, but I do miss this simpler time. Those Sunday nights waiting until late for their show to come on is a fond memory. I greatly miss these two men and I'm happy to have had the honor to follow them for most of their long Journey at the movies.