If anyone knows me, they know this is my favorite television series of all time. I'm going to share with you why I love this show and how this show came into my life at such a young age.
Like many of people my age (in my twenties), I was introduced to The Golden Girls by my grandma. Grandma Rose was sassy, honest, emotional, funny, and loving. I could share stories about her for days, but that's another story for another time. Perhaps another blog for the future?
When I was a kid, I loved watching Scooby-Doo. I love mystery stories. I especially love murder mysteries but as a child, Scooby-Doo was the closest thing to a murder mystery. When I was a kid, I would watch Scooby-Doo all day. I would come home and just sit in front of the television set. I grew up in a big family so getting the TV to yourself was harder than you think. The rule was: First come, first serve. If you didn't have the TV, you had to wait your turn.
My Grandma Rose would always be watching TV. So, following the rules, I would wait and watch whatever my grandmother was watching. It was always The Golden Girls. Lifetime would have a marathon on the hit series, daily. Eventually, as a kid, I would get bored watching and ask my grandma, "When is this over?", she'd reply, "Oh, it is almost over". Of course, my grandma was lying. But as a kid, I didn't know better. I thought, why would my grandma lie? So, I waited... I guess you could say I was a naive kid because I would sit, what felt like hour after hour, watching this show with her. I would even see the ending credits show up on the screen and then the new episode starts, and think, "It's almost over".
Not many will say this but I'm happy my grandma lied to me back then because that started a bond between us. A bond I still think about and remember to this day. I would watch this show and not understand it when I was younger. I was a kid watching grownups talk about adult life problems and humor. But I knew it was funny. Eventually, I realized people worked on this show. I learned it was an entertainment business. I learned I wanted to work on projects like this when I got older.
My family moved out to Las Vegas and my grandma stayed in Michigan, where I was born and raised. I missed her like crazy. Luckily, The Golden Girls came out with DVDs of the series, and I got to watch them on repeat when I wanted to. It made me feel like I was back in the living room in Michigan, watching the iconic show with the best person in the world (If you don't know who I'm talking about, you obviously aren't reading this very closely). Soon after watching this show more and more, my close friends and family associated me with this show.
These ladies were a part of my life. In a weird way, these four ladies were my four extra grandmothers. I matured at a young age because these ladies taught me so much as I watched their show. I learned to be independent, strong, funny, and myself all from watching The Golden Girls.
We recently lost the last Golden Girl alive, and I felt I wanted to honor Betty White on this special day. I wanted to say why I'm thankful they were my friends, and I would love to hear why you're thankful (if you are) for this show and these ladies, too!
Please share in the comments below!
We'll start with the birthday girl herself: Betty White. She would've been 100 today. She was funny and sweet, especially to her animal friends. My dad was into a lot of the older sitcoms and eventually introduced me to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In that show, I got to see the sweet and bubbly person we all know as Rose, turn into this devious and flirtatious beast of nature. Beast of nature is the best way to describe White's character of Sue Ann Nivens. As I was graduating high school, I was fortunate to see another show of Betty's in real-time: Hot in Cleveland. A show that was similar to The Golden Girls. It was about three Los Angeles women that crash-land in Cleveland, Ohio and decide to live a normal life of natural aging with a spunky and slightly older caretaker, Elka, played by Betty herself. The show also starred TV sitcom icons Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, and Jane Leeves. The show was aired from 2010-2015 and lasted 6 seasons. I was happy Betty was alive to make every episode. Every season, I feared she wouldn't complete the show and hoped she would complete the show before passing. Needless to say, she did. I look up to her kindness and fun sense of humor to everyday life. I hope I'm a Betty White when I'm old.
Beatrice Arthur. If anyone truly knows me, they know Beatrice Arthur is my favorite everything. She was my favorite Golden Girl and I still look up to her. Even as a kid, I loved Beatrice. I think it was because I could relate to her. I was always taller than the kids at my school and always had a weird voice. Even now, my voice sounds like a boy going through puberty. I was always made fun of because of my voice. I would look to Beatrice and know it's okay. It's okay to be different. I also share a lot of the same views as she did. I occasionally do theatre shows and I love it. I love the theatre. When I'm with the cast and crew, we become a family. But when the show is over, it is time to go on to the next thing in life. I like to stay professional, and it is very seldom that I'll continue a friendship, the same way as when doing the show, once a gig is over. A lot of people may know me as being very outgoing around people when I'm out and about with friends and family. But in all honesty, I'm a very shy and very reserved to myself. I can be very honest about my feelings, but I don't share all my problems or feelings with anyone. I am very emotional. There are very limited few people who actually know me. Weirdly enough, I was like this before I even knew the real Beatrice Arthur and her lifestyle. I related even more to her when I discovered these facts about Beatrice. Beatrice Arthur made an impact on my life, more than anybody. I started my theatre debut singing, 'The Man in the Moon' from the hit 1960s musical, MAME. A musical that starred Angela Lansbury and Beatrice Arthur, herself. Before my debut, I wrote a letter to my icon, inviting her to the show and she responded. In an autographed photo, she wrote, "Break a Leg". Three simple words every actor loves to hear before the big show. Three simple words that I still get to look at before any show. She may not have come to my debut show, but I'll always cherish that memory and photo. I love Beatrice in The Golden Girls but her real shining moment was in Maude. The show that made Beatrice Arthur known before The Golden Girls. It was groundbreaking and I can still watch it on repeat. I also listen to her one woman show, Just Between Friends, on repeat when I can.
Shocking news for those who don't know me: I'm a bigger Beatrice Arthur fan than The Golden Girls fan...
Just my opinion: I could not tell you why, but I prefer to call her "Beatrice" than "Bea", I just feel right saying it that way.
Rue McClanahan. Rue was truly a character actor. Any role she played, she managed to completely transform into the character and give us a show we'd never forget. I loved her, like most of us, for the man-crazy woman she played on The Golden Girls. But I think I loved her character of Blanche even more when they explored her more on the spin-off show, The Golden Palace. A series that lasted only one season. I didn't realize how great of an actor Rue was until I saw her in the show, Maude, that starred fellow Golden Girl Beatrice Arthur. Rue played a completely different character on that show. She played Vivian Harmon, the airhead best friend of Arthur's character. Rue had range to her that can be difficult for an actor and lived a rather difficult life. I'm happy to see that she got the recognition she deserved with such an iconic character that she made her own, in The Golden Girls.
Estelle Getty. Estelle was the first Golden Girl to pass on of the four... It hit me hard with her. Sophia was everyone's favorite Golden Girl. As I mentioned before, I was always a bigger fan of Dorothy/Beatrice. Sophia wasn't my favorite. I just loved her. But when Estelle passed, it made me realize that these women wouldn't live forever. She passed just at the time I started noticing immortality doesn't exist at my young age. Everything ends. When she passed away, I was on vacation with my family. I still remember it. While at dinner, I made a toast to Estelle. My family was nice enough to let me honor a woman we've never met but that show was not only a part of my life, but my family's life too. I gave my toast, thanking her for the laughter and love she brought to every show. Sure, I was beginning to worry about death. But luckily, I had The Golden Girls. Sophia made us all laugh at getting older. She managed to even make us laugh about death and that helped me during that dark time of youth. She may have not been my favorite character in the show, but she made an impact.
I had a lot of people contact me over the years when each Golden Girl passed. They wanted to check in on me and I'm grateful for each of you who did check up on me. It's silly, I know. These ladies all lived a happy and full life. It happens when we all get older, and they got to make great projects along the way. I think why their deaths all impacted me more than usual was because they were like my grandmothers. But mainly, it's because they were a part of a bond that I still hold dear to my heart: My Grandma Rose.
My grandmother passed away in 2012. I was fortunate to have many memories with her, but I still think and talk about her today, as if she was alive. Estelle, Beatrice, and Rue passed away before my grandmother's death. When Betty passed in 2021, it hit me harder because I realized that that was the last person of my special bond to go... I felt like they were all, including my own grandmother, truly gone. I know it was their time and I know they are with me in this special bond/memory I made for myself. But it still doesn't make it any easier though.
The Golden Girls is a moment in my life I will keep in my memory and will continue to keep in my life, as it moves forward. Thank you for going down this long rant. This is the reason I started this site: to share with you the real me and to get experience in my writing style.
I hope you like all I said today, and I do hope you share your favorite moments or memories you have with the show or anyone of these legends!
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Thank you for being a friend!
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