Remembering Lucille Ball

In regard to the loss of the “national treasure” by the name of Lucille Ball:

When my friend Sally was close to dying in the hospital from a rare form of spinal cancer the one thing she wanted to do was watch “I Love Lucy.” To her disappointment, the hospital TV system could not get the station that aired the show.

So every day, a few minutes before noon, I would call her, long distance, put the telephone receiver up to the TV set and do play-by-play Lucy: “Lucy’s stomping the grapes . . . she lost her ring in the BBQ pit . . . she’s imitating Harpo Marx . . . Lucy brought a puppy home for little Ricky . . . she’s stuffing the chocolates in her mouth as fast as she can and the conveyor belt just sped up. . . .” I could hear Sally squeal with delight.

Sally was one of the 39 people with this form of cancer who survived. Maybe her recovery was blessed by the magic of Lucy.

REBECCA LYNNE ROBERTS

Hollywood