The Soaps

By Joy Lynn Clark

December 10, 2021

Since I was a child I followed the soap operas. Grandma always had them on in the afternoons. Grandma’s TV would be on anytime we were inside. In the mornings grandma would work in the garden and I would swear they were too many worms.

By noon we are back inside, soaps are on, and we and by we, I mean grandma, are doing laundry. Up and down the basement steps. Sometimes I would look at the, cheap, old, Bach Bust by the piano that needed a tune. Grandma’s not really into cheap things but, we ain’t rich folks.

On the TV, soaps. Grandma was a fan of a couple of networks and between the folding of clothes and commercials she actually managed to watch two soaps at the same time. Amazing. Then back into the yard to hang clothes on the line. I get to chill in a wet basket. The, “wet basket” is a laundry basket lined with a trash bag and filled with water. I used to chill in this thing for hours in the summertime.

Over the years I did the same thing with grandma. I ended up paying attention to those soaps throughout my life. I watched on and off days back home too. I didn’t do the two networks but one of my babysitters did. She made these strange butter and chocolate sandwiches. She also had lots of crystal figurines that I found beautiful.

Just like grandma, she watched those soaps. Two networks even, but one was different than the ones grandma liked. She was a really good sitter and her home was more like a daycare. I only watched if there weren’t any other kids. Otherwise we could play on the swingset or do homework.

Beyond the age of sitters I kept those soaps up. Even into adulthood. After I returned to college I had the hippest most rocking, biology professor ever! When I returned from class, I turned on GH and there he is, Rick Springfield performing, “Jessie’s girl”. Boy did those two favor!