Because I have had much time to spend waisting since this month began, I decided to indulge and pop in the first DVD of the first season of "Thirtysomething", a show that I absolutely loved back in the day. These people seemed so cool, so happening, and I wanted to be like them when I grew up. I wanted to be in their circle. Hope and Michael with their newly bought old house and all of its problems, and their new baby and all the stresses being new parents were causing. Elliot and Nancy with their marital problems, Nancy starting a career late in life, then dealing with and beating cancer. Cool single gals Ellen with her city-hall job and men trouble, and Melissa with her very hip photography business and loft. Gary, the beautifully bearded unable-to-commit college English professor, who I was totally in love with and had to deal with some real issues when they killed him off the show. The show ran from '89 to '91, which means I was early 20's, newly married and full of hope and possibilities for the future.
Well, ahem, let's just say that the best laid plans of mice and men..... But I caught this show every week for as long as it ran. I even taped them and kept watching them for a couple of years after it went away, I missed my older friends so much. By then the reality of my real life had taken hold. I forgot about the show after that, until the age of TV shows coming out on DVD arrived. It took a really long time for thirtysomething to get released, something about getting permission from musical artists whose songs were featured on the show, among other problems. I believe the first season is the only one you can buy. The remaining seasons are available for download only.
So about halfway through the season, I had to admit to myself a few things. First of all, these people did ALOT of whining. I didn't really notice this the first run. It almost caused me to not make it through, but the whining seemed to dissapate as the season went on. Someone must have complained and writing was adjusted. The second thing I noticed was how much more I was relating to some of their problems, which even though seemed serious back then were now hitting home much more than they did when I was childless all those years ago. Never having enough "me" time once you have kids, and trying to balance a job with raising a child. Not so glamorous to watch now.
But the biggest and scariest thing that smacked me in the face, though, was that this time in my life, this time I aspired to with goals and dreams, has gone right by. I am OLDER than these people now. How on earth has this happened?!?!?!?!?!?!? I have missed my chance to have this close enclave of friends with whom I do everything with, people I can turn to in times of crisis, people we invite over to watch the Superbowl or the Academy Awards. It just never happened that way. It started to make me sad and feel like my life was missing something. Where have I gone wrong?
But then I had to pause and regroup. For the most part, we hang out with the four of us, or larger family units. Every once in awhile we go out with another couple. My close friends that I have are my girlfriends from high school, who have seen me through the thick and thin times of life. I also have my cousin that I've reconnected with over the last few years, neighbors, friends I've made in book club, plus a few new people that have come into my life through my hubby. And I realized that that's much more than many people have. So it doesn't look like the polished, witty and never ending cool group from the show. It's all good. Besides, it was a television show, and no matter how many true-to-life serious subjects they managed to throw in, it was not reality.
So finally, the thing that also made me feel better is to see some of these pics below. It's the cast from a few years ago, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the show. They are fiftysomethings now, and have mostly aged well - just like us, don't you think?
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