Fans say goodbye to ‘Guiding Light’

I will miss "Guiding Light" when it's gone -- not just for the good-looking men on the show who brought me so much pleasure, but also for the way it brought me and my sister a little closer when we watched it together.

-- Leigh Giza, Midlothian

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I started watching "Guiding Light" as a freshman in college (in 1982) . . . I graduated college, got married and started a job in 1986. I taped "Guiding Light" and watched it at night. My husband became hooked, too, as we watched it together while eating dinner. We have performed this ritual of eating dinner and watching "Guiding Light" together for the past 23 years! . . . As silly as it may sound, it will be a void in our lives as we've grown to love the characters on the show. Although they are actors, it's like losing old friends.

-- Cathy Pleasants, Richmond

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It is hard to articulate what "Guiding Light" has meant to me all these years. I've been teased by friends and family, but how do you explain the comfort I've received in knowing that, whatever else is going on in my life, "Guiding Light" will be there waiting for me? . . . It isn't an exaggeration to say that I feel like a close friend is dying -- and for months we've known its death date.

-- Christy Lynn Wilson, Lawrenceville, Ga.

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I was shocked when CBS announced that it was canceling "GL." . . . It is a travesty that something hasn't been done to keep it on the air. What a slap in the face! It was the first soap on TV. If it wasn't for "GL," the other ones wouldn't be on now.

Joe Redden, Newark, Del.

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I began watching "Guiding Light" -- along with all of the other CBS soaps -- when I would stay with my grandmother. "Guiding Light" is the only one I have continued to watch for more than 30 years. . . . With the show leaving the air, I feel a link to my grandmother is gone. I will miss the characters and am sorry to see it end.

-- Marcy Rice, Farnham

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I just had a birthday in August -- [I'm ] 55 years old and I have watched "Guiding Light" since I was in high school. My mom watched it also and is still watching it now at age 79. . . . What a shame this excellent show is ending. Whatever way it ends, I sure will miss the light guiding me in my life.

-- Karen Harcum, Wicomico Church

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It's hard to explain how I feel because I've never gone through this before.

Other shows that I've liked, and are no longer, were not such a big part of my life. Like many others are saying, it's like losing a ton of family members all at once. My one hour a day of escape will be gone.

-- Karen Lenk, Canada

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I have been devastated ever since I heard about the show being canceled. I am 60 years old and began listening to "Guiding Light" when my mom listened to it on the radio. . . . My mother died a few years ago at the age of 95 and she watched it until the very end. . . . To add insult to injury, they are putting on another game show. If I have to see one more game show or reality show, I am going to throw away my TV.

-- Cindy Ferris, Quinton

Compiled by Melissa Ruggieri