A Gift for Mom! 🤍

Another Piece of My Childhood Died With Alex Trebek

3 Minute Read

By Jenny Rapson

2020 dealt us another blow this morning with the death of beloved Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek at age 80 from pancreatic cancer. We all watched the last two years as he fought his struggle with grace and kept on hosting the iconic game show for which he is so well known. Trebek’s fight was inspiring and he will be so, so missed.

Alex Trebek and Jeopardy! hold a special place in American culture: He and his show are one of the few things baby boomers, Gen Xers, Xennials, Millenials, and today’s teens all have in common, know about, and enjoy.

I know very few people who haven’t watched at least a few games of Jeopardy! together with their families. If you’re like many of us, you watched it with your family on a regular basis. The quiz show and its matter-of-fact, friendly host were a staple of my childhood and something my entire family enjoyed, from my grandparents down to little old me. We still like to watch it together when we get the chance!

Alex Trebek brought us together for 30 minutes every weeknight.

Thanks to Alex, families took time to sit together and learn together. He stumped us, he made us feel like a genius when we knew the answer, and he always made sure we answered in the form of a question. His light banter with contestants after a commercial break, where I could get glimpses of his personality, was something I always looked forward to.

Another thing I looked forward to was when SNL would do a Jeopardy! spoof. I wonder what Alex thought of Will Ferrell’s impression? I loved it, but no matter what, if you’ve been parodied on SNL, you KNOW you’re an American (or Canadian-American as the case may be!) icon.

Now, that gentle genius who united friends and families five nights a week is gone, and I feel like one more piece of my childhood is gone with him.

Jeopardy! will live on, I’m sure—it’s fantastic! But I don’t envy the host who has to try and fill the shoes that such a beloved man has filled since 1984 (when I was just seven!). I’m glad we can still stream old episodes and see Alex show us and the contestants how it’s done (fun fact, I love watching Jeopardy! when I’m on the treadmill). Watching old episodes can take us through the best of Alex’s fashion looks and hairstyles (you know the perm is your FAVE!) and also just remind us of a time when life was a bit slower and we all had time to sit together for a whole hot 30 together to learn and laugh.

Missing Alex Trebek is, in a very real way, missing a more carefree time of my life.

Final Jeopardy!: Who is “a job well done, personified”?

Alex Trebek.

Thank you, sir . . . well done.

Watch the moment Final Jeopardy brought Alex Trebek to tears here.

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

Jenny Rapson

Jenny Rapson is a follower of Christ, a wife and mom of three from Ohio and a freelance writer and editor. You can find her at her blog, Mommin' It Up, or follow her on Twitter.

The Due Date that Never Comes

In: Grief, Loss, Miscarriage

Black and white image of woman standing on walkway in woods

It is not often talked about. I completely understand why, but when going through something so heartbreaking and devastating, women shouldn’t have to suffer alone or in silence. If you’ve gone through it, you probably already know what I’m referring to – miscarriage. It is the reason many couples don’t tell people they are expecting until after the first trimester. It is so unfortunately common that one in four women will experience a miscarriage in their lifetime. According to the National Institutes of Health, 15-20 percent of pregnancies will end in miscarriage, and it is the most common pregnancy complication...

Keep Reading

Repotting Myself: What My One‑Armed Grandpa Taught Me About Growing Anyway

In: Grief, Living

Black and white photo of older man in garden

I was never meant to be a plant person. I’m the woman who can kill a succulent on the way home from the store. Once, a fern sighed in my direction and gave up. That is my spiritual gift. My grandpa Dominic would have laughed—hard. He loved to laugh. And sing hymns passionately in Italian. He was an Italian immigrant who lost his arm working in a mill, and still, he woke up every morning and dressed like dignity itself. He shopped for my grandma. He fixed what was broken. And he tended the biggest, happiest garden you’ve ever seen....

Keep Reading

When I Look In the Mirror, I See My Mother

In: Grief

Woman with mother smiling in older photo

Recently, whenever I look in the mirror, I see a strong resemblance to my mother. People always said I looked like her, but I never really saw it until now. I think it may be because you always think of your parents as being older than you are. At the age of 61, I am now only two years away from the age my mother was when she died. The only good thing about dying young is that everyone will remember you that way. I have only known my mom as the vibrant, personable, and active woman she was. Well,...

Keep Reading

I Lost My Daughter on Mother’s Day: 3 Truths I’m Believing Today

In: Grief, Loss, Motherhood

Editor’s note: This post discusses child loss Child loss changes Mother’s Day. My 19-month-old, Julia, died suddenly on Mother’s Day in 2024. Three months later, her autopsy revealed she had B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL, also known as SUDNIC). Julia died a week after we did an embryo transfer at an IVF clinic in an attempt to have a second child. We found out three days after Julia’s death that the embryo did not make it either. Six months later, we did another embryo transfer that succeeded, and I now have an 8-month-old daughter, Lucy Mei (“Mei Mei” means “little...

Keep Reading

I Miss Having Parents

In: Grief

Grown daughter posing between smiling parents

I have been living with the ache of loss for so long that I truly don’t remember what it feels like not to carry it. Sometimes it rests quietly beneath my ribs, dormant and almost polite. Other times it rises without warning—on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon, in the middle of a coffee line—and cuts straight through me. Today, it was a song. I was waiting for my coffee when “Pictures of You” by The Cure drifted through the café speakers. I hadn’t heard it in 20 years. In my twenties, it meant heartbreak—young love unraveling, relationships ending before they were...

Keep Reading

What No One Tells You about Losing a Sibling

In: Grief

Nobody tells you that when you lose a sibling, your entire childhood flashes before your eyes. There’s no better witness to what you experienced growing up than that one person who was standing nearby for all of it. And when they’re gone, a part of that childhood and a part of that story goes with them, because it was only ever known between the two of you. There’s no last chance to say, “Remember when?” or to laugh about the things that made you laugh to tears together, a million times at the kitchen table. There’s no last conversation about...

Keep Reading

Grief Didn’t Break Me, It Rearranged Me

In: Grief

I survived losing my father after his long, grueling battle with cancer. It was one of the most difficult seasons of my life. I had a front row seat to watch cancer pick him apart piece by piece. When you lose a parent, you lose a part of yourself. They say time heals all wounds, but you never stop missing the good ones, and there are days when it feels like it just happened. By the grace of God, I survived, but I will always miss my father. Then, almost a decade later, I lost the career that helped me...

Keep Reading

I’m Learning To Be Soft and Strong

In: Grief

During the weeks we cared for my grandmother in hospice, survival mode felt necessary. There were medications to track. Visitors to update. Logistics to manage. I remember sitting on the couch that served as my makeshift bed and listening to the rhythmic hissing and puffing of the oxygen machine one night. While my mom showered off the day, I texted my sister updates and sent my husband a quick message of love. I could still smell the lavender candle we had lit earlier in the day to mask medical scents. The house was quiet, but my mind wasn’t. I was...

Keep Reading

The Legacy Our Mothers Leave Is In the Details

In: Grief

Woman's hands holding beautifully wrapped small gift

It has been two months and nine days since my mom passed away. The first several weeks were spent on the details and logistics of planning her service. She passed in December, so once her beautiful service had passed, I busied myself with the preparations for Christmas. By mid-February, I finally began to process some feelings of grief on a deeper level. The quiet of this less-busy season is allowing the grief to soak in a bit more. Not the big things; not the obvious, grief-heavy reminders that stop me in my tracks. Instead, I’ve been noticing the small things....

Keep Reading

You Never Get Over Losing Your Mother

In: Grief

It’s been 10 years since I last heard my mother’s voice. Ten years since I could pick up the phone and ask a question I already knew the answer to, just to hear her say it anyway. Ten years since someone loved me in that very specific, unconditional, occasionally annoying way that only a mother can. My mom died in 2015. And while “passed away” sounds softer, more polite, the truth is that she left. Suddenly. Permanently. With no forwarding address. She was gone. What I’ve learned in the decade since is not what I expected. I thought the biggest lesson...

Keep Reading

Say it Ain't So, 2020: Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek Dead at 80

News

Say it Ain't So, 2020: Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek Dead at 80

6 Ways Youth Sports Parents Can Be Better

Kids

Another Piece of My Childhood Died With Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek and Jeopardy! hold a special place in American culture: He and his show are one of the few things baby boomers, Gen Xers, Xennials, Millenials, and today’s teens all have in common, know about, and enjoy.

Now, that gentle genius who united friends and families five nights a week is gone, and I feel like one more piece of my childhood is gone with him.

Missing Alex Trebek is, in a very real way, missing a more carefree time of my life.

Watch the moment Final Jeopardy brought Alex Trebek to tears here.

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Jenny Rapson

The Due Date that Never Comes

Repotting Myself: What My One‑Armed Grandpa Taught Me About Growing Anyway

When I Look In the Mirror, I See My Mother

I Lost My Daughter on Mother’s Day: 3 Truths I’m Believing Today

I Miss Having Parents

What No One Tells You about Losing a Sibling

Grief Didn’t Break Me, It Rearranged Me

I’m Learning To Be Soft and Strong

The Legacy Our Mothers Leave Is In the Details

You Never Get Over Losing Your Mother

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

Another Piece of My Childhood Died With Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek and Jeopardy! hold a special place in American culture: He and his show are one of the few things baby boomers, Gen Xers, Xennials, Millenials, and today’s teens all have in common, know about, and enjoy.

Now, that gentle genius who united friends and families five nights a week is gone, and I feel like one more piece of my childhood is gone with him.

Missing Alex Trebek is, in a very real way, missing a more carefree time of my life.

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

The Due Date that Never Comes

Repotting Myself: What My One‑Armed Grandpa Taught Me About Growing Anyway

When I Look In the Mirror, I See My Mother

I Lost My Daughter on Mother’s Day: 3 Truths I’m Believing Today

I Miss Having Parents

What No One Tells You about Losing a Sibling

Grief Didn’t Break Me, It Rearranged Me

I’m Learning To Be Soft and Strong

The Legacy Our Mothers Leave Is In the Details

You Never Get Over Losing Your Mother

Previous Post

Next Post

You May Also Like