Love.
Love.
LOVE them.
I know for a blog of a person that loves to write this should go without saying...but I'm saying it anyway. Because, I don't think you understand. I have an obsession with the characters that I love. Here is when it started.
When I was probably about 5 or 6 I watched many episodes of The North and South with my grandmother. I was in heaven. I don't know why, to this day I don't know why. I do know, that at the time a lot of big stuff was going on in my little world. My father was recently diagnosed with cancer and things were very hectic in my life. I was probably confused and scared, and this was a bright spot. I can literally close my eyes and hear the theme music and the opening sequence. The camera panning up the long drive to Mount Royal. *sigh*
That's when I fell in love with characters and also with anything historical. That's when I fell in love with the period drama period. (catch that one!!)
The characters names were Orry and Madeline. I still love them. I will ALWAYS love them. I can't pinpoint why I loved them so much. (If you've seen this series...you should know why) But let me make it very clear. It was NOT because it was Patrick Swayze. This is how I know it's characters that I love, and not cute boys.
See, my husband of course knows of my love for these characters. In fact, it was a well known fact that when I gave birth to a girl her name would be Madeline Rae. There was NO QUESTION. He knew this. He knew (and knows) I love Orry. He has learned finally that I do not also love Patrick Swayze. (RIP) Do I like him? yes. Have I liked other movies he was in? yes. Do I think he was good looking? well yes. But that isn't why I love Orry. But in the beginning he would flip thru the channels and land on Dirty Dancing, or Roadhouse (blech) and say "there's your guy". He didn't understand that I didn't love Orry because he was cute Patrick Swayze, I loved Orry because he was Orry. And I admired and loved Patrick because he gave me Orry in such a perfect package...but that did not make me automatically want to watch him in other movies. Is that difficult to understand?
I was very happy to once open his autobiography and find where he had written how much he loved being a part of that show and was SOOO HAPPY!! If he would have said otherwise, I might have been severely crushed...because I wanted him to love it as much as I do.
Same with Leslie Anne Down. I have absolutely no desire to watch her on whatever daytime soap she is on. None. But I will always be grateful to her for giving me Madeline.
Ok, here is where the obsession part comes in. I remember SEVERAL times sitting in my room around the time I was watching this mini series and crying. Crying hard because I knew that I would never have Orry for me. Yes, at the age of 5 or 6. I wanted Orry to myself. I don't know if I was crying because I knew 1. I was a child and he was too old for me. Or 2. He was a fictional character from the past and for all intents and purposes, theoretically dead. I don't know, I just knew that he would never love me back and it broke my heart. I can still imagine it. I even had the TV schedule from our paper with the show's photo on the front and I hid it under my bed. At some point my mom must have found it because one day it was gone.
I still haven't recovered from that. I'm pretty sure it was this image here.
I cried real tears over that image! There have been lots of characters I fell in love with over the years. Not all in that "in love with" kind of way. But yea, some were. I guess my sweet husband has to accept that!
Some others I've loved are...
Mr. Darcy
Harry Potter
Madeline (in Madeline from Roald Dahl)
Ralph (Wideacre by Phillipa Gregory)
Edward (duh)
Edward Rochester
Logan (Babysitters Club)
Merthin (World Without End by Ken Follett)
Westley (The Princess Bride)
I know there is more...but I'm tired. I really think my love of history, stories, and wonderful characters was born right there. I would love nothing more than to have someone love a character I created!
Are characters that real to anyone else???
