What makes David Campbell cry

While standing at the pool watching his eldest son’s swimming lesson, television host David Campbell was overwhelmed with emotion as memories of his own childhood washed over him.

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So anyway, I cried at my eldest son’s swimming lesson the other day. No big deal. Just in public. Wouldn’t have looked too weird at all.

“What happened?” I hear you ask. Well, nothing led up to this display of Dad embarrassment.

At this public pool at the top of every hour, they turn on the wave machine.

It’s not at full The Perfect Storm strength. It’s more like a calm beach with some rather large ripples, but the kids love it.

Leo ran into the waves by himself and was living his best life. It was something about the joy on his face, the sense of independence he was experiencing and how he was playing that triggered the emotional time machine in my head.

Out of nowhere, I remembered everything about being nine. Getting up early to find any form of early ’80s entertainment on our TV, which had five whole networks to choose from!

I would invariably find Professor Julius Sumner Miller staring down the lens posing his famous question, “Why is it so?” Then the adventure would continue on the latest black and white episode of Flash Gordon. I could see it.

“Living your childhood again through your offspring’s eyes is so random.” (Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar)

Nothing weird about randomly crying at your son’s swimming lesson, no sirree. (Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar)

It was around this same time that my grandmother would take me on holiday to Lake Bonney in South Australia. We would drive up with the windows rolled down (by hand!) listening to the AM radio hits of the day.

I would sing along to Barry Manilow (so cool) and ‘Afternoon Delight’, which looking back is a totally inappropriate song for a nine-year-old to sing with his grandparent.

I remember pulling into a motel where you could drive right up to your room and park. Then eating a holiday treat dinner of Heinz Baked Beans on toast.

I could taste the butter, even now, while watching my son leap through the waves.

It was on this holiday I went inside The Big Orange in Berri. The very first Big Thing I had ever entered. I took part in a juice tasting (fancy!) where my palate got accustomed to delights like the combination of orange and — wait for it — mango.

Could it be magic? It was, Barry, it was.

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I swam in the lake and was badly scratched by a dog who was swimming past. So I only swam in the motel pool after this.

I ran to that pool and dived in head first in the shallow end, cracking my skull on the bottom and learning a valuable lesson — the hard way.

I swam off the (probable) concussion and fought off the giant underwater squid, wrestling like Flash Gordon did. Playing by myself, in the deep end, and experiencing so much joy.

The same joy my son was now having in front of me. All these memories washed over me in the space of 10 seconds. All of them. The wave machine had started behind my eyes.

David Campbell’s column is in Stellar this Sunday.

Living your childhood again through your offspring’s eyes is so random. So overwhelming.

Leo didn’t know. I wiped the nostalgia away with his towel.

He had no idea I felt closer to him. He had inadvertently mined memories long since buried and forgotten.

I know my sentimentality is getting worse as my kids grow older. I can’t stop it. I am powerless to the tear ducts.

So if you see me crying in public, just hand me a Kleenex, or hum a few bars of ‘Copacabana’.

David co-hosts Today Extra, 9am Monday — Wednesday, and Weekend Today, 7am weekends, on the Nine Network.

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