Memories of Another Time & Place
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The snow is still lying in clumps out in the yard. There is ice underneath. Kendra came yesterday and did her best to shovel a path through it. Then Greg came to check on me. And a little later, Kasi brought lunch.
Somehow, I’ve hurt my left knee. I just got stood up from this chair on Friday, and the pain froze me to the spot. So now I’m hobbling around with a brace, a walker, and a cane. They’re right when they say old age isn’t for sissies.
I hate for Kendra to expend her energy in my yard, because she is having MRIs on her knees on Tuesday. She has a Baker’s cyst behind one, and it is so near an artery that they’re hesitant to try to remove it.
Her work keeps her physically busy, so slowing down is more difficult for her. She just purchased another house to renovate last week. And she’s also busy refurbishing other houses for someone she often does business with.
Leaning on Your Loved Ones:
We do the best we can with what we have, and that means our health, as much as anything else. As in, when one side of your body is painful, you lean on the other. Just like you lean on your loved ones when you’re ailing.
It isn’t what you want to do, but what you need to do. And like me, I’m sure you look back to when you were young and helped someone older.
The person I helped most was named Hazel. We weren’t related, but she treated me kind of like a daughter. I took her to some of her doctor’s appointments.
Hazel is gone now, dead for quite a while now. I had not thought about her in some time until just now. She was a great cook and served me many wonderful lunches in front of our favorite soap opera on TV. We ate on TV trays, occasionally commenting about what was going on.
Did you watch any soap operas way back when? Those daily soaps whose characters you followed closely, like you were related to them? I recall wondering what would happen in their lives next, these actors playing a role.
Luke & Laura:
I read that Luke, of Luke and Laura fame, died not long ago. His name was Anthony Geary, and he was 78 when he died about a month ago from surgery complications.
The infamous soap-opera wedding of Luke and Laura was an idyllic affair, with a cameo by Elizabeth Taylor. Did you know that Elizabeth Taylor and Anthony Geary had a brief romantic relationship during the early eighties?
The couple wed at the end of the hour-long show, which aired on November 16 and 17, 1981. It remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history, with about 30 million Americans tuned in.
Genie Francis and Anthony Geary’s portrayal of the iconic couple on General Hospital earned both Daytime Emmy Awards. And in 1981, when their characters married, about 30 million Americans tuned in to watch the wedding.
Viewers watched as the show followed their marriage through two decades and gave them two children.
Did you watch that? I did. You can actually watch the wedding here on YouTube.
When I Was a Young Woman:
Remembering that time, all those years ago, at a time when I, too, was young. My children were 3 and 7 in 1981, and I was 24.
It was a different time and place, back when I ate lunch at Hazel’s house. Some days, at her invitation, I would be on Hazel’s doorstep to eat lunch and watch our soap opera. At that time, it was The Bold & the Beautiful, I recall.
Hazel would cook comforting foods like goulash or meatloaf, with sides like mashed potatoes and green beans, with iced sweet tea.
I’d divorce and remarry, move to another state, and at some point, I lost touch with Hazel. I’m not even sure now when she died, but I regret that I wasn’t still a part of her life then.
She’d been like a mother to me for some time, back when I was a young mother myself. I hope I told her at some point during our long friendship how much her presence meant to me.
Rhonda & I:
That era with Hazel was years after I’d last seen my friend Rhonda, whom I met up with again about six months ago. About a decade after, I guess. Rhonda and I were reunited after losing touch in high school.
I just realized I’m about the age Hazel was back then, when I was friends with her.
Fifty-some odd years back, Rhonda and I were friends when we were teenagers. And then we met up again in our late sixties. I think she actually found me again through this blog. And now we talk on the phone almost every day.
So much time and so many people I’ve crossed paths with on the train tracks of life, that symbol of life’s journey. All are stories of another time and place, at different durations in mine.
I typically end up writing something other than what I thought I would, or even intended to. My mind will roam over various times in my life, and some memory will stop me and plant itself in front of me.
And off I go in a completely different direction, telling an entirely different story.
Reading this reflection really evokes a sense of warmth and community-having friends and family check in during cold, icy days makes all the difference. For those thinking about securing a home where you can create such memories safely and comfortably, a home loan can help you invest in a space that’s both cozy and accessible for years to come.
I began watching/listening to abc soap operas either in a room full of med and nursing students or in my office on the radio when I worked at Temple U’s Medical School.. This was in the mid-1970’s.
In the late 70’s when I became a mom, I’d watch All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital, while nursing babies, folding clothes fresh out of the dryer, or prepping for dinner. Most of the time it was background noise, human company during mundane tasks, when the kids were napping.
I still watch GH! These days it signals my mid-afternoon rest time.
I’ve mourn when GH actors pass. I loved watching Tony Geary. I miss Monica and others. They do become like family.
I didn’t even know if it was still airing.
I used to love the soap operas Love Is a Many Splendored Thing and Ryan’s Hope!
I vaguely remember Ryan’s Hope. I must have watched it some at the time.
So many things interfere with friendships I have learned. We have moved quite a bit, tho we did live a few long stretches of time in a few places. Sometimes people we were SO VERY CLOSE to, after we moved, it almost immediately disappeared. I am a person who keeps up with those who want to stay in touch. A lot of them have died now. But some folks, are like the old song:”If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with.” Some do not like to write. Some who might have kept up via phone, well, you remember how expensive it was most of our lives to chat on the phone which cell phones have made way cheaper. But with so much moving in our culture, in general, one ought to at least send a yearly greeting of some sort…you never know when you might end up close by to them again unless you keep in touch. Enjoy your sharing on your life…
Wonderful sentiments!
Love your stories!
I’m so glad you like them.
I’m so sorry your knee is acting up again. Weird thing is, mine is right now, too. I have osteoarthritis in my left knee from having a menisectomy about 7 years ago. The pain comes and goes. It hadn’t bothered me in a long time but yesterday – bam – out of the blue. Today I have pain with every step. I’ve tried aspercreme and frankincense oil, neither which are doing much good. Need to find my knee brace. I’m sorry to hear of Kendra’s knee problems, too.
Oh yes, I watched Luke and Laura back in the day!
It’s interesting who comes in and out of our lives, isn’t it? I think there’s a reason for each and every person who does so.
I think you’re probably right about that, Melanie.
I used
to watch Days of Our Lives. I think it came
on at 12 til 1! I got hooked on it for awhile. Are there even soaps anymore or were they replaced by Opra
and many others? It’s a good thing I don’t live in snow country now. With my back I could
never shovel snow.
The arnica under
the tongue is also pretty good.
I looked it up: These shows are still on. The Young and the Restless (CBS), The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS), General Hospital (ABC), and Days of Our Lives (now on Peacock/NBC Universal after moving from NBC broadcast.
It sounds like you had a busy day between Kendra, Greg and Kasi. It’s so nice that they are all looking out for you. I hope Kendra’s knees will be ok. She has a lot on her plate, so hopefully if she has surgery it will be successful and a quick recovery. You can’t keep a good girl down, right? It also sounds like you had a really wonderful friend and motherly role model. And now you’ve reconnected with Rhonda. Consider yourself lucky to have had two close friends. I remember watching Luke and Laura’s wedding, back in the day. What a crazy romance those two characters had. I was sad to hear about Tony Geary’s passing too. I don’t remember hearing about him and Elisabeth Taylor, or maybe I did and just forgot. He was in a relationship with his partner for many years. He always kept his personal life out of the news. I can’t believe he was 78. In my minds eye, he never aged, lol. I hope you are ok. I’m sorry you hurt your knees. Be careful. This crazy weather is going to be hanging out for a while longer. Stay safe and warm indoors everyone and have a lovely rest of your weekend.
I haven’t been anywhere in close to two weeks. I’m staying in until there is no more sign of snow or ice.
The other day I shoveled the thick ice that was on top of the snow so as not to be standing on ice when I took Libby out to do her business. It was quite a lot of shoveling you would think that my arms would have been sore the next day, no instead it was both of my knees. Maybe some extra strength Arnica cream will help you Brenda. Hope everything goes well with Kendra. Looking forward to seeing your bookcases that you will be receiving for your birthday.
Kendra actually mentioned Arnica cream to me yesterday! Great minds think alike.