All My Children

I watched my first episode of All my Children in January of 1970...I was 14. Tonight, I watched my last episode...I am 56.
Now that my friends is a helluva run.

I cannot think of much else that has been that much of a constant in my life.
My Dad...my friend Lynn and my cousin and friend Amy and my sister Lisa. That's it.

Like I said...It is an impressive run.

I have not always watched every single episode..things like kids and work got in the way..but I kept track and I knew the basics of what was happening.

It was at times my deepest and darkest secret.
I consider myself intelligent and progressive( for lack of a better word) and being a devotee of a Soap Opera did not exactly fit in to either category.

But, while I could not say that "everything I needed to know I learned in All My Children...I will say that there were actually quite a few things.
For example...even beautiful,rich folks, have problems..make mistakes...and are insecure. Money does not buy happiness and family is all important.

It may have left the impression that one could indeed undergo..birth, major surgery and death and still look gorgeous but hey..it is freaking TV!

I have three favorite movies..they are:
1. The Wizard of Oz...2. The Godfather...3. Serial Mom.
So, What do all these movies have in common?
In a word? Family.
The preservation of family against all odds.
If you never watched these films they all had this in common...extreme measures are taken to preserve family.

All My Children was much the same.

Yes, they made bad choices...Erica Kane married 11 times( I think... I might have lost track) but she was a mother who would have died for her girls...end of story.
She did not always "get them" but who the hell actually always "gets" their kids. She did not always agree with their choices but again..who does?
They made bad choices with their partners..she made bad choices with hers but again...who hasn't...who doesn't?

I have decided recently that I am not that crazy with my kids growing up, being married and having their own lives.
Yes, I know the very fact that they have done so means I did my job.
I still don't love it.
That's no disrespect against any of my son/daughter in laws...they are fine..good..maybe even great but...I still don't love it.
I am not great at sharing what I love and I love my kids...no matter what...end of story.

FINE ...they get to grow up and right..I did my job.
But I do not have to love it...all the time.

But, back to All My Children...It had been part of my life for longer than many of my friends, It has been what I watched when I was a teenager...a young mother...a divorcee...a dying heart patient...a grieving daughter...a new grandmother...

This one show has seen me through almost all major phases of my life.

But now we are done...end of an era.

I hear it may end up on the Internet and my first thought was that it is not the same and therefore not worth watching.

However...things change..children grow.. relationships end or evolve or both...parents die...hair goes gray...families broaden..and nothing ever ever stays solid and unchangeable.

So..will I watch the continuing story of the residents of Pine Valley?
Probably I will...Erica and I go way way back and...
I don't ever turn my back on my friends.