In 2020, we said goodbye to Modern Family, and shortly after it aired, we also said hello to a global pandemic. Coincidence? I think not. After all, both events undeniably altered our brain chemistry for the worse — and to this day, we haven’t fully recovered from either.
Thankfully, the cast seems just as attached to the feel-good show as we are. From TV ads to Instagram shout-outs, they remind us that yes, the cast was — and still is — a family first and foremost. And what screams Modern Family more than a Thanksgiving emergency room trip? We’d argue nothing. So, imagine our surprise when Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson crossed paths in the most unlikely, yet totally Modern Family-esque, way.
This unexpected reunion happened in the ER on Thanksgiving Day. While the story sounds dramatic, it turned out to be quite wholesome. It all started when Bowen shared a Thanksgiving update on Instagram, revealing that her son had been admitted to the emergency room.
Alongside a caption that read, “It’s not a holiday without a trip to the ER. (He’s fine, btw) HAPPY THANKSGIVING,” she posted a photo of her son outside the hospital. Thankfully, everything turned out okay, but the chance encounter with Ferguson — in a figurative sense — made the situation oddly heartwarming.
A few hours later, Jesse Tyler Ferguson shared his own unexpected holiday update: a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed with one of his sons in his arms. While the picture would’ve been undeniably adorable under different circumstances, it too was taken in the ER, much to everyone’s surprise.
Not to worry though, because Julie Bowen’s own trip to the ER made her sufficiently knowledgeable to offer plenty of advice to her former co-star from a distance. “I have received a lot of parenting wisdom from @itsjuliebowen, so seeing I wasn’t the only one with a kid in the ER on Thanksgiving was comforting. (He’s also fine.),” Ferguson wrote in his caption.
While we’re relieved and happy to hear both of their sons are healthy despite the emergency room visits, we couldn’t help but feel like this scenario was ripped straight out of a Modern Family episode. Picture this: Claire rushing Luke to the ER after he fell doing some magic trick with Phil — Bowen’s son even resembles an older Luke! — only to find Mitch and Cam there with Lily already for some stomach issues. The only thing missing would be Gloria and Jay, though not to worry, because Manny would surely have a hypochondriac flare-up just in time for the holiday chaos.
This may not have been the Modern Family reunion we were hoping for — or the one we could have predicted — but it sure is heartwarming (and hilarious) that the cast continues to find themselves in scenarios that echo their years on the show. Just last March, Ferguson and Bowen reunited with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (who played Lily) at her school play. The trio even shared some Modern Family-worthy TikTok videos that perfectly channeled the sitcom’s iconic energy.