This morning I received an email from my 2nd oldest sister, and she was so excited she had called into a radio show and won 4 ski passes. The question was, "On the show Family Affair, what was the little girls' dolls name?" She was so excited because she remembered when we were little and I wanted the doll, her an my mom searched stores for weeks to find it. Back then it was like the Cabbage Patch dolls were in the 80's. It was a "MRS. BEASLEY" doll, I loved that doll, I do remember opening my present that Christmas morning and screaming I was so happy. Mrs. Beasley went everywhere with me, she just was the best. I had a buffy doll too, much smaller and did not really play with that.

Do you remember those old shows? Family affair twins Jody an Buffy and older sister Cissy, Mr. French the butler and Uncle Bill the bachleor? or Courtship of Eddies Father? Or my other personal favorite, " The Brady Bunch or The Partidge Family?" There was no divorce only death, you were either a widow or widower or like Family Affair both parents are killed and now an Uncle they do not really know is their guardian. It made it even more special to watch things unfold with not having to deal with ex's.

My parents were divorced when I was 6 years old, and it felt we were the only ones. Then another family moved across the street when I was "8" and it was a single mom with 3 kids, and her and my mom had gone to High School together. They had a little girl Melissa who was 7 and we became best friends. We learned how to ride bikes together, when it rained in the summer we would be out there jumping in the puddles, in the fall into the leaves, riding our bikes around the neighborhood, dressing up on Halloween, sleepovers and of course our 1st ciggarettes, which we both got grounded for a week, which to a child of 12 seemed forever. We would stand at the edge of our yards and talk because no phone and could not leave the yard. On Friday, nights we would sit down in whoever house was sleepover night and watch the Brady Bunch and pretend we were the sisters (short one) and sing and dance an be silly..

I loved those times, I spent so much time at her house and her at mine. When I got married in 2005, I did invite Melissa even though I had only seen her twice in about 15 years, she did not come but she will always been in my heart. My family moved when I was 14, we went to different schools so we drifted apart, quite sad. I love to think of those times.