RIP, Tony Dow

 

I confess.   When I saw this posting on Facebook, my heart sunk.   Leave It To Beaver and my childhood were intrinsically linked -- I longed for Friday nights when I could watch my favorite primetime TV show.  I loved it.  Perhaps for others, later TV shows were more "realistic" and less fantastical, but for me watching the Cleaver family was reality TV.   I lived in a lovely home, in a lovely suburb community with parents who were engaged and caring.  My mother always looked beautifully dressed and made wonderful family dinners like June... my dad was warm and understanding like Ward.  To me, Wally WAS my older brother.   Like Wally, my brother was a nice guy.  Like Wally, my brother had an obnoxious friend just like Eddie Haskell.    Like Beaver, I couldn't stand him -- he teased me the way Eddie teased the Beav.    

I watched a segment on Tony Dow on Sunday Morning recently and felt even closer this lovely person.  

RIP, Tony Dow.   You were a great memory from a simpler time.