The Waltons are a old fashioned family drama about how a family could survive through the American Depression and World War II. The show ranged from 1972 to 1981 and made 210 episodes, which aired for 9 seasons. They all live on Waltons Mountain in Virginia. There have been generations upon generations that have been born on the mountain.The show always featured some type of life lesson, whether it be perseverance, or just the idea of relying on friends and family. The family was full of seven children, Jim Bob, Jason, Ben, John Boy, Elizabeth, Erin, and MaryEllen, two parents, John and Olivia, and two grandparents, Zebulon and Esther.

The Waltons family is always accepting of strangers into their family. One time John Boy got a job reading novels to a lady who was blind. She was always complaining about her loss of sight and blaming others for her own problems. She  wouldn’t even go outside because she is ashamed. Mary Ellen had John Boy give the lady a rock that felt interesting. When John Boy gave her the rock, she instantly thought the rock was supposed to be negative and said the gift was supposed to represent that she was “stone-blind.” John Boy then tries to tell her that she is the person who is holding her back. He eventually convinces her to go up to the mountain that the family lives on. The Waltons family welcomes her with open arms. She learns through compassion of the family that she can go outside and still live. The episode showed me that when when it seems that life can not get any worse, then it is time to make the best of what you have.

In one of my favorite episodes, Ben, one of the sons, and his wife Cindy are having a baby. Cindy finds some trouble and finds a book that directs her to be the “perfect” wife. Cindy takes the book seriously, even when everyone else just laughs at the ridiculous thought of the novel. Cindy follows every part of the book and over exhausts herself which nearly kills the unborn baby. The family even tells her to settle down.The episode shows that you should always find time to relax and take it easy. The episode also tells me to listen to my family even when they seem wrong, but are just looking out for me. The reason I get that lesson is because if Cindy listened to everyone, then she would not have put her baby in danger.

In another episode, John Sr. is trying to fill a huge lumber order and the machine breaks down in the middle of the order. Other events occur during the episode and everything seems to pile on until John eventually snaps and gives up on the order and his family. The family needs the money for food and such, but John is very pig headed and disses his duties. He causes trouble by distracting his friends, who have jobs. In the end, he realizes how selfish and foolish he was to his family and friends. John pulls together and fixes the mill and eventually fills his orders. This episode teaches me that stressing out about a problem just causes more issues for me and the ones around me.

The characters are all complex from Grandpa, the Spanish-American war veteran, to John Boy, the writer going to New York City and beyond. If you would like to watch this show, then flip over to the Hallmark channel on channel number 123, 5 o’clock to 8 o’clock on weekdays.