LONG LOST GIRLFRIEND

When Girlfriends ended  in 2008, I was devastated (and this is not an exaggeration). When the sitcom began, I was living in Wyoming and though I loved my sisters with less melanin, my Girlfriends were the circle of friends (in my head) to whom I never had to explain "ethnic" issues.  I always connected most with Joan Carol Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross), because of her lovable neurosis and killer fashion sense. When she began to date Aaron and eventually became engaged to be married only for him to be deployed to Iraq, I felt that we had forged a bond. Her experience was so poignant to me because, I am a military wife and I was going through the same thing at that time.  Much like Joan, I was spending too much money on fabulous clothes to hide my grief. When she broke down and admitted her fear, so did I. I was able to get through partly because Joan was there. My Girlfriends never got their finale, but Joan did get her news that Aaron was coming home. Like a true military wife, I was in happy tears for her but still wished for another season. All I had left was my Girlfriends Soundtrack...

THE SHOW PREMIERES ON BET
ON TUESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2011@ 10 PM/ 9C
(SELL OUT DISCLAIMER: I HAVE LIFTED MY
MORATORIUM ON BET JUST TO WATCH THIS SHOW)

Until now! Tracee Ellis Ross is back in a new show called Reed Between the Lines. The role is a departure from Joan and I welcome the opportunity to her shine in another role.  In this sitcom she and her husband (Malcolm Jamal Warner) play married forty-something professionals with children, which in and of itself is a stage for massive comedy and drama.  And since I'm reeling back from my quarter-life crisis, I'm curious about the AfAm pop-culture strategy for career/family coping (OR what would a 21st century Cliff & Claire Huxtable do?)