When I was growing up there was pretty much always a television playing. We were watching, or it was on in the background. And although I was sometimes too young to know the names of shows or even to follow, I would recognize the opening music to almost any show. Amazing the power of music! The Waltons was a program I remember my grandparents liked. "Goodnight, John Boy" was one of those phrases that stuck with everybody. When my grandfather died, I was not old enough to understand or even be told really the circumstances surrounding his death. Sometime later, however, after my grandmother had moved from her home in rural Alabama to the town where we all lived, I was watching TV with her, and The Waltons came on. It was in the afternoon, and I am sure the show was in syndication then. And her TV, modern for the time, had a fairly large, bulky remote that I was holding. I remember she said, calmly but with a serious tone, "Change that channel. I don't want to watch that." I asked her why, and she said that my grandfather, while she was in the kitchen nearby, was watching The Waltons when he died. He was in his chair. I changed it quickly. And now that I have had a number of losses in my life, including that very grandmother, I really get it. I get why grieving people leave rooms exactly as they were when their loved one died. I understand why a restaurant you once loved is not a place that appeals to you any longer, and songs that come on the radio or are in your CD collection - even and especially your favorites - can now make you feel more sad than they do happy.
Click here for more on my grandfather
How did the Waltons die?
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