I remember watching soap operas with my mom. We were a CBS family so we were loyal to the lineup that included not only The Young & The Restless but As The World Turns, and the Guiding Light. We watched on a black & white Zenith television set. The one my parents purchased after they got married in 1956, or was it 57? It was the size of a milk crate, and heavy. Though my dad was in the Navy, a graduate of the Naval Academy, I believe I have a photo of that television taken in the apartment my parents lived in while my dad was in graduate school at U.C. Berkeley… sitting on a bookshelf made from cinderblocks and wood planks.
In the 60’s and 70s when my sister and I were growing up we watched cartoons like Scooby Doo and shows like Star Trek–in black & white on that old Zenith. Even though the shows were produced in color. It wasn’t until my mom got sick with cancer that the family bought a new television, and with a remote control.
Before my mom got sick we weren’t much of a television family: We were readers and crafters, tennis players, horseback riders, dancers, and beach goers, though my dad was a workaholic. After my mom got sick, she spent a lot of time home, in bed, first recovering from surgery (a hysterectomy) then recovering from chemo. Then not recovering.
Whether in black & white or color we watched those soaps with mom. If we were out and about and missed a day or two, or twenty, the slow developing story lines meant we didn’t really miss much. The Brooks and the Foster families were always feuding– maybe they still are. I haven’t watched in years though I continued to watch long after my mom died when I was just 13. Even if I only watched on occasion, it was like visiting old friends, visiting family.
Admittedly I didn’t really learn anything about creative writing while watching soap operas… except maybe how to create story lines for my Barbies that could go on for days… but I did recently learn that Julianna McCarthy, who played Liz Foster, the matriarch of the Foster family on The Young & The Restless, has earned an MFA in creative writing (poetry) since leaving the show! THIS is actually the story line that inspires me! It’s a reminder to us all: It’s never to late to pursue a dream.
Julianna McCarthy is now an award winning poet based in the Los Padres National Forest of California. Her poems have appeared in The Antioch Review, Boxcar Poetry Review, Best Poem, Tidal Basin Review, American Journal of Poetry and other journals. Her previous collection Photoplay was released by Finishing Line Press in 2009. She holds an MFA in Poetry from New England College.
Her most recent book, Everything Hurts was published by Latitude 34 Press and is reviewed here on our site.
So go read the book review of Everything Hurts by guest poster Peggy Dobreer, buy the book, and follow YOUR dreams! It’s never too late.
Television Photo by Jonathan Cosens – JCP on Unsplash
Lovely!
thanks for reading!