Back in November 1981, everyone in my dorm at college gathered in one room to watch Luke Spencer marry Laura Webber on ABC’s General Hospital. It was a must-see TV event (despite the controversy of how these two got together) and even though I wasn't an avid viewer of the show, I had to tune in.
Over a decade later, I rediscovered GH. It was 1995 and I had recently had my first child. Home on maternity leave, I found myself with an opening time in the afternoon. The time 3 p.m. was the perfect time to sit on the couch and nurse my newborn (and if she fell asleep on my shoulder, I’d stay put and watch Oprah at 4 p.m.). Being a new mom can be isolating and the residents of Port Charles became good company for me during those days.
As years passed and life got busier, I wasn’t able to watch GH as regularly as I once did. Still, I would DVR the show. The great thing about a soap opera is you can tune in every day, or once a month, and within minutes, you can get up to speed.
Sometimes there were new characters, but many of the old fan favorites remained and it was nice to catch up with them. (And sometimes an old character shows up with a brand-new face because they are played by a different actor.)
On more than one occasion, a friend has said to me, “I can’t believe you STILL watch GH? I’m surprised that the show is actually still on the air?”
Yes, the storylines can be repetitive and absurd. People marry, divorce, and cheat an awful lot. They come back from the dead. There are many more “spies” and “mobsters” than you would find in an average neighborhood.
The point of a soap opera isn’t realism. (although storylines like Stone’s AIDS journey, Mike’s dementia, and Gregory’s ALS have been well executed, educational, and poignant). Instead, GH is about nostalgia. It’s a comfort watch. A part of my life that has persisted for over 30 years.
The show also became a way to connect with my mother. As a young child, my mom would take me to my grandmother's and it was there that I was introduced to the soap opera genre. They were Guiding Light fans. Although my grandmother died when I was nine, I still have vivid memories of the three of us watching in her house in the afternoons, eating cookies on her metal snack tables.
After Guiding Light went off the air in 2009, my mother made a quick detour to Days of Our Lives before settling in to GH.
Mom knew I was a fan of the show and it became an easy point of conversation between us, something both of us needed.
In real life, we tended to be at odds. We loved each other but rarely seemed to agree on how we saw other people (especially other members of our family) or the world. Our passionate and often opposing views on small to large topics could cause conflict.
