Goodbye 2012

 Every New Year's I post the notable deaths of the year. Usually I'd post pictures with them, but unfortunately I've discovered that I can't really do that ... copyright and such. So here's the list ... of course it doesn't include everyone and there may be some you don't recognize but you can view the full list here.

In alphabetical order:

Richard Arlen                                                                         Whitney Houston

Neil Armstrong                                                                       John Ingle

Maeve Binchy                                                                         Senator Daniel Inouye

Ernest Borgnine                                                                      Davy Jones

Robert Bork                                                                            Kathryn Joosten

Ray Bradbury                                                                         Rodney King

Helen Gurley Brown                                                                Thomas Kinkade

Dave Brubeck                                                                         Jack Klugman

Frank Cady                                                                             Jon Lord

Hector “Macho” Camacho                                                      Tony Martin

Dick Clark                                                                              George McGovern

Gary Collins                                                                            Dorothy McGuire

Don Cornelius                                                                         Rev. Sun Myrung Moon

Stephen R. Covey                                                                   LeRoy Neiman

Judith Crist                                                                              Jerry Nelson

Hal David                                                                               Ron Palillo

Richard Dawson                                                                     Deborah Raffin

Phyllis Diller                                                                            Sally Ride

Michael Clarke Duncan                                                          Ann Rutherford

Charles Durning                                                                      Steve Sabol

Chad Everett                                                                          Vidal Sassoon

Al Freeman Jr.                                                                        Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf

Robin Gibb                                                                             Tony Scott

Art Ginsburg                                                                           Earl Scruggs

Don Grady                                                                             Maurice Sendak

Andy Griffith                                                                           Arlen Specter

Larry Hagman                                                                         Donna Summer

Marvin Hamlisch                                                                     Gore Vidal

Levon Helm                                                                            Bob Welch

Sherman Hemsley                                                                   Kitty Wells

Celeste Holm                                                                          Andy Williams

All My Children

This week marks the end of All My Children (possible reincarnation on web aside). While I haven’t watched the show in years, I do mourn its passing. Or maybe I mourn the passing of a genre. After One Life to Live  leaves, there will only be 4 soups on television. Four? I remember when they ruled the daytime airwaves. And now they are almost all gone. I don’t like it .. I don’t like the replacement of actors with hosts any more than I like the replacement of checkers with those grocery store self check-out lines. A lot more people lose their jobs when a soap leaves than are given jobs with the creation of a talk show. Just saying. I love Anderson Cooper, but I have no intention of watching his show, or The Chew (what a name?), merely on quiet protest, not like they’ll notice.


But back to the point. All My Children. Once upon the time I watched ABC soaps religiously .. started with Ryan’s Hope and ended the day with Edge of Night. I laughed at Delia, rooted for Joe/Mary; loved Greg/Jenny; went through the ringer with Karen; was appalled and then fell in love with a man named Luke. (sorry Edge of Night, only remember Lori Loughlin was on it.) Soaps were .. in a strange way … romances novels. Or more like love stories – because they weren’t happily ever after, which is why I quit watching them, but that’s another blog. All My Children gave us Kim Delaney, Josh Duhamel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lauren Holly, Eva LaRue, Jesse McCartney, Kelly Ripa, Laura San Giacomo and Christian Slater, among others.

All My Children meant more than Greg and Jenny, it was Erica and her many husbands, the endearing love of Joe and Ruth Martin (whose portrayer, Mary Fickett, passed away a few days ago), Tad the Cad. It was the first soap that took on abortion, birth control and lesbian relationships, among others. Agnes Nixon opened the door to many previously taboo subjects and made AMC one of the hits of an era, an era I’m sorry to say is ending. Some blame OJ (audiences never did pick up after this trial knocked soaps off for weeks), some blame boredom – regurgitated stories or storylines that went too far over the edge. I quit because I was tired of rooting for the hero/heroine to only have they ripped apart sometimes the day after the much rooted for “kiss” “wedding” “reunion” – you name it.

This week is All My Children’s last week. I wish I wasn’t working; I would love to watch it. I understand that each day will be a tribute to something – like the weddings through the years – Wednesday will be a tribute to Mary Fickett’s Ruth Martin. I’ll be watching on Friday though .. to say my goodbye to a once loved show.

Lasts, Part Two

First off, let me say that I am very excited about the future. I am by no means ignoring the things ahead of me. I’m just taking this time to say goodbye to something that has been a haven for me for the last 39 years. This is my closure.

So here are the lasts that I am happy about:

This is the last time I’ll have to struggle with the gate to the alley.

The last time I’ll have to struggle with the sliding glass door that is off its track and difficult because of the shifting foundation.

The last time I’ll have to worry about how I’m going to get the lawn mowed.

The last time I’ll have to deal with those ugly squiggly plant things that fall off of the tree every spring.

Speaking of the tree, it’s the last time I’ll have to deal with the web worms.

The last time I’ll have to put up with things not working.

The last time that I’ll have to watch a bad cable connection and not be able to do anything about it because it’s the lines my father split off from the main line.

I won’t have to clean a three bedroom, two living area, two bath home ever again.

No more messing with a broken garage door.

I have a fireplace, so I won’t have to freeze my butt off next winter because I can’t afford to run the furnace.

I won’t have to put up with those barking dogs next door. Don’t get me wrong, dogs are okay – it’s just these dogs I don’t like.

I won’t ever have to look at the mess that my neighbor has made of her home and yard. She’s a nice lady, but a bit on the trashy side.

No more cleaning the alley.

I can put the trash out whenever I want to.

Lasts, Part One

This is my last week in the house, so indulge me a little as I spend some time saying goodbye. There are a lot of "lasts" that I'll be experiencing here. The last time I'll close that door, the last time I'll open that cabinet, the last time ... While I'm excited about my new apartment, I'm also sad about leaving my home of almost 39 years. A lot has happened here, laughter as well as tears. Parties, goodbyes, hellos - I grew from child, to adolescent, to adult in this house. A great many people who are no longer with me have crossed its threshold. Their memories all live not only within me, but within these walls. Wedding showers, baby showers, graduation, birthday and anniversary parties. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, New Years Eve. Oh, the parties we would have. The house filled with people, laughter, conversation, love. Mostly, laughter. My mother and my father both died IN this house. The smells, the sounds - every creek and groan of the house, will be missed. The other day I experienced one of my "last". I woke up that morning to snow, and as I stood there taking pictures I realized that this would be my last snow in this house.

See that tree? My dad planted that tree. My maternal grandmother held it in the hole as he shoveled in dirt. My nephews swung from it. It has shaded me and this house for 25 years. I'll miss it too.