This past week one of the Golden Girls died. Estelle Getty who was Sophie Petrillo was three days shy of her 85th birthday. She was one year younger than Bea Arthur who played her daughter Dorothy, but through the magic of make-up she was convincing as her 80 year old mother.
Their mother-daughter relationship was very real. They made us realize that no matter how old we are, our mothers still think of us as their little girls, that we have grown up but that we still need "dear old mom".
Other than remembering the characters of the "girls", Blanche as the "easy" girl, Rose as the dumb blonde and Dorothy as the serious, teacher type, I can't remember much of what they said. Sophia, on the other hand, had many catch phrases - "Picture this, Sicily...", "but I digress". Sophia was always available to pass out words of wisdom in her own way.
I understand that for the past few years Estelle/Sophia had dementia. Her friends would wait until she had moments of lucidity to speak with her, but they became fewer. It must have been very sad for them to see her like that, but it was even harder for her family.
Her physical death was a blessing to her friends and family since she died mentally several years ago. She will be missed.
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