The television show, “The Waltons,” was a long running series. Grandma and Grandpa Walton lived with the next generation down, and their children. Sitting around the table, there were quite a few people, all caring, all loving, all ready to help each other. The grandparents were ready and willing to provide advice, all of it sound.
The economy status of the household depended on productivity of the farm. Scenes would often occur in the barn. The show itself was a scrubbed-clean look at American life. Church on Sunday, everyone around the dinner table, giving thanks for God’s bounty, and at the end of each show, everyone calling “Good Night” to each other, one by one.
That may have been a romanticized look at life as we think of it … in the past. The reality of today’s world is that no one has time to give each other the right time of day, let alone an “extra” box of raspberries. We have become so ego-centric, and so disinterested in others, it’s exasperating. I call it the “get ahead” mentality, a system I don’t want to get caught up in, as I already have “a head.”
For a moment though, it is pleasant to think of charming stories like The Waltons and Anne of Green Gables. In fact, literature and cinematography transport us to a place where we can, in our minds, be better than we really are. Just recalling the two story lines bring a smile to my face. It’s so nice to think of what might have been … but never was.
Patricia Cummings
