Guiding Light Flashback
It's not the manliest thing to do, posting about a soap opera, but when I heard that The Guiding Light was going off the air, I was reminded of the one memory that I hold of my Grandmother.
I remember a very warm August day at my Grandmother Bessie's house. My brother was just an infant and sleeping, I was probably 3 at the time. We were outdoors playing badminton. I remember her green, patterned outfit and her black penny loafers. I remember having no coordination with the badminton birdie and getting beaten badly by a woman, albeit a much older woman. I remember the trains as they roared by her house, she lived directly beside train tracks, which in the Hampton Roads area, is pretty common.
I remember the above theme music even to this day and am taken back to that moment. I remember her stopping suddenly and herding me inside because she didn't want to miss her soaps. Once inside she turned to the bedroom and yelled out, as only a 4'11 elderly Irish lady would do, "Get out of bed, Buster!” For a long time I thought Buster was my Grandfather's name. That was not the case, that was her affectionate at times, not affectionate at other times nickname for him. Buster.
Theodore was his name; everyone called him Teddy though...except Grandma. You would have to see him to believe him. He stood a giant, well over 6 feet, 5 inches tall. He was a rough character, loud and downright mean, but when it came to his wife, a woman half his height, he knew well to listen quick. He would later go on to teach me how to fish, and would buy me a comic book every week. He set my foundation of being the geeky redneck that I am today..but that is another story.
Teddy got up after a little grumbling and preceded to play a board game with me while my Grandmother, dear sweet Bessie watched her soap, Guiding Light. And that is my one memory of my Mom's mother and in that one moment in time, I'm reminded of what a kind, and fun loving grandmother that I was blessed to know. Even for that one moment in time.
She lived a rough life, surviving the depression and raising 5 kids while her husband worked on the road as a trucker, but she always had a good spirit, and she always demanded respect. She died the next year from cancer. Everyone that knew her to this day, 33 years later, still have nothing but the highest regard for her and I learned a valuable early lesson, don't mess with little old Irish ladies...ever!
