Heading Towards the Light

When I lived with my grandparents, most of the time we lived at the farm. I did not have fun. I resented having to do farm work and missing out on summer vacation and friends. My sister and I weren't worked as much as my dad and his siblings were. Still, we woke up in the morning, ate breakfast and worked until about 1 when we would have lunch. It was during the hottest part of the day when we had our siesta. If we weren't sleeping, we were watching Grandma's soaps. At one would be The Young and the Restless, then The Bold and the Beautiful, followed by As the World Turns, and finally, Guiding Light.

Guiding Light was grandma's favorite. It was good for us because we knew that until that show ended, we didn't have to go back out into the fields. Once I started to watch it, there was no going back it seemed. I got hooked into the show almost as bad as she was and I can still remembers some of the old characters and plot lines. In particular I remember the couple Josh and Reva. I remember the episode in which she died by driving off a bridge that I recognized in real life as I lived near it in Florida. Then I remember her coming back to the show as ghost and thinking, "WTF?!"

I was able to cut away from it eventually because of school and job. Even though I was curious to know what was going on in the town of Springfield, I knew better than to try and start watching again.

Unfortunately for Grandma, CBS decided to change the time and format of the show. I don't know if she still watches it anymore. Last I heard, it was airing in the mid-morning which is prime working hours on a farm. Any strings that she may still have with that show are going to be cut soon because Guiding Light has been canceled. It has been the longest running television and radio drama in history, having been on since 1937.