Columbia Star

1963        Celebrating 60 Years      2023

What a friend is Dr. Quinn

I’m just saying...



 

I think my stepson, Van, is beginning to worry about his dad and me.

On my husband Marty’s birthday a few weeks ago, we went out to eat with some friends and family, and Van drove us there. As we were going along to the restaurant, we were all chatting and an ambulance sped past us with its lights flashing and sirens screaming. Marty and I together shouted out ,“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman!”

Ever since this pandemic descended upon us, Marty and I have avoided watching the news as much as possible. I think we cut it out about the time every single broadcast was essentially a laundry list of COVID cases and the number of deaths for the day, week, or month. Instead of the morning news programs, we began tuning into all the old shows. When I discovered Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman came on every morning with TWO episodes, I was ecstatic! It’s one of my favorite shows and whatever was happening back in the 1800s had to be better than our current situation.

My relationship with the good doctor was my little secret until Marty retired this summer, but he eventually began watching the show with me. In the last year, I think we’ve watched every episode four or five times. We’ve gotten so familiar with the plots we can now tell which show is about to be aired within the first minute. I’m pretty sure we could turn the sound off and practically recite every line in every dialogue.

We know every character by name; we know their back stories, their parents, their children, and pretty much everything about them. We even have silly discussions about the people and their antics and by now we should be honorary members of Dr. Quinn’s town of Colorado Springs. So that evening when we both thought about Dr. Quinn at the same time, we had to laugh.

Van just looked straight ahead and kept driving. I may have detected the slightest eye roll.

“Van, do you ever watch Dr. Quinn? It’s a television show.” I knew the answer would be no! “Nope, I don’t know it. Do you like it?” Van asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

“Oh, yes! Your Dad and I watch it every morning. It’s a cool show…and educational. She’s a doctor, and back then a woman doctor was unheard of. She lives in this town of Colorado Springs and…”

“And that’s an actual town even today,” Marty told Van proudly.

“It is,” I emphatically agree, “And Dr. Quinn takes care of the whole town because she’s the only doctor.”

“Well, I don’t know, Julia, does Hank go to her? They don’t really get along.” Marty was asking about the owner of the town’s only bar and brothel. He and Dr. Quinn have a lot of arguments.

“Oh sure, he goes to her when he’s sick, Marty. Don’t you remember when he had that sinus infection and she gave him those decongestant herbs that Cloud Dancing had brought her?”

“Oooh yeah, now I remember…and the herbs helped him…he even rode out to Dr. Quinn’s homestead to thank her.”

“He sure did. Now, was that before or after Horace and Myra got married? Because remember… Hank didn’t want to let Myra out of her contract and poor Horace couldn’t afford to pay it off.”

“Yeah, but Myra quit right after the election when Dr. Quinn ran for Mayor,” Marty said.

“I dunno, Marty…I think Horace would have been MUCH better off if he’d never married Myra. I mean she ends up leaving him anyway…and he gets so depressed. It’s sad really,” I sighed from the back seat.

During this conversation I had leaned forward from the back seat and basically looked at the road as we merrily headed toward our destination. I happened to glance at Van and noticed he was looking a little confused.

“Now, don’t you wish you watched, Van?” I laughed as I stroked his shoulder.

“So these people you guys are talking about aren’t real people then?” He still looked a little anxious.

“Oh these are the people your dad and I spend our early mornings with,” I reply airily. “I just love starting my mornings with the good folks of Colorado Springs!”

“Yeah, Van…you should give it a shot,” Marty suggested.

“Yeah, yeah…sure… but guys….you both DO know you’re talking about characters on a show, right?”

“Well sure, Van… that’s what we were telling you about,” I soothed as I began to understand Van was worried about our perception of reality.

“Okaaaay…” Van said slowly. I could see the frustration on his face. “But what I’m asking you is, do you know Hank and Myra and that White Cloud guy…”

“Cloud Dancing, Van…not White Cloud,” Marty said helpfully.

“Yes…Cloud Dancing is Sully’s best friend,” I explained. “He saved Sully’s life once, and they’ve been BFFs ever since. Of course, since then Sully has saved Cloud Dancing a lot, too.”

We had arrived at the restaurant so Van parked, took off his seat belt, and turned to face us. I suddenly felt like HE was the parent and Marty and I were badly behaving toddlers.

“Okay, okay, OKAY!” Van said sternly. “These cloud people and Hank and the divorced couple you’ve been talking about…you both DO know that they aren’t REAL people, right? They are FICTITIOUS CHARACTERS! They don’t EXIST!”

It was cute to see him so concerned, but once we assured him we hadn’t gone crazy and started having “invisible friends” over for dinner, Van relaxed and it was a great evening. By the end of the night, I’m pretty sure we convinced him we were healthy, happy, and still relatively mentally stable.

At least for now anyway.

I’m Just Saying…

One response to “What a friend is Dr. Quinn”

  1. Chris mcconnell says:

    You’re not the only one. 5:00 am it’s either The millionaire, if the reception comes in ( decades) or Dr Quinn. Escapism is good for these crazy times. I’m a sixty year old construction worker and have a wife that still remembers each show from when it first aired. Sully will always be in her heart. Good thing it’s only TV. Enjoyed your story, found it googling info on Dr Quinn 😊

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