From: Marni Centor <marni@panix.com>


GUIDING LIGHT UPDATE -- THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1996


                          FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

HIGHLIGHTS
* Springfield mourns Henry Chamberlain.
* Buzz agrees to help Reva with her plan.
* Roger tries to divert Dinah from divorce.

A mournful morning in Springfield, USA...

REARDON HOUSE: Vanessa, dressed in tasteful black, gazes sadly at a photo 
of herself and Henry. Matt watches her with pain in his heart. "If there 
was anyway that I could take away this hurt for you, Vanessa, I would," he 
says. Vanessa thanks him.

Outside, Dinah & Marcus arrive at the same time as Ross & Blake. Ross 
offers to postpone the court date with Roger if it's too much for Dinah, 
but she just wants it all to be over. She knows that Henry would not have 
wanted her to let up on Rog for a minute.

WOODHILL FUNERAL HOME, EXTERIOR: Rog paces impatiently, then jumps on Leo 
about the dummy ledgers when he arrives. Leo needs a couple more days, but 
Rog doesn't have that time. Leo reminds Rog that he bilked Dinah out of 
millions of dollars & stuck it in Caribbean bank accounts--it's not so 
easy to just make it disappear. Rog promises Leo that if he doesn't have 
some cooked books by court-time this afternoon, Leo will be the next body 
laid out in the funeral home.

Inside, Josh says good-bye to Henry. Alan enters & tells Josh he's glad 
they found Marah. But his curiosity is killing him--which lucky woman will 
Josh choose? Annie stands in the doorway.

REVA'S HOUSE: Reva descends the stairs in a robe & retrieves the newspaper 
from the front stoop. Below the fold is the headline, Little Girl Found, 
over a wedding photo of Josh, Annie & the kids. "There's got to be another 
way," says Reva softly.

Reva sees a flower growing from the cracks in a stone wall outside her 
house. "Didn't anybody tell you that flowers aren't supposed to grow in 
the middle of winter?" she asks. "That didn't stop you, did it?" She 
flashes back on her meeting with Josh at Cross Creek, with Josh admitting 
that he still loves her. She considers the flower some more, then hears a 
bird call. This makes her remember talking with Marah in the carousel, 
when Marah thought she was talking to Reva-the-angel. Marah tells her 
about their new mommy, Annie, who loves them so much that they don't need 
Reva's help. 

Reva goes back inside & flashes back to kissing Josh at Cross Creek. She 
picks up the phone & calls someone, asking him to come over ASAP.

FUNERAL HOME: Josh doesn't answer Alan's question, but opines that if life 
were fair, it would be Alan in the casket. Alan takes Josh's non-response 
to mean he'll "be playing the virgin at the prom." Josh joins Annie & 
takes her away from her quiet chat with Lucy & Alexandra. Annie asks what 
Alan wanted; Josh says: as usual, what he can't have. Annie gives Josh a 
hug to comfort him as he suffers from the "emotional whiplash" of losing & 
finding Marah, and Henry's death. 

Amanda approaches Alan & asks why Roger is present. She saw him outside 
with his "stooge." Alan figures Rog is just trying to turn the situation 
to his own advantage. He'd be frisking the corpse if he could get away 
with it.

Outside, Josh alternately threatens & cajoles Leo, who thinks it unlikely 
that Ross & the judge will buy that Rog just "lost" all that money. After 
all, they know Rog is a shrewd businessman. Leo suggests that Rog use his 
magic touch on Dinah to convince her to drop her inquiry into his 
accounts, at least for a couple of days. Rog despairs that Dinah isn't 
even talking to him, but then gets an idea of how he can keep her out of 
the courtroom today.

REVA'S HOUSE: Reva has just finished explaining her "plan" to Buzz, who 
thinks it has a few problems, like it's not going to work.

FUNERAL HOME: Quint asks Nola how she's holding up. She says she's fine, 
because she learned all about class from his father. She thanks him for 
asking & walks away.

Blake enters & greets Ed & Michelle (who is wearing some weird yellow & 
black tie-dyed dress). She does not speak directly to Rick, who is 
standing right beside her. Ed watches the two of them closely. Blake goes 
into the chapel with Lillian & Michelle, leaving Rick to tell Ed to stop 
giving him "the look" every time he talks to Blake. "I wouldn't be looking 
at you like that if you hadn't slept with Blake," says Ed. "That's a good 
point," replies Rick, following Ed into the chapel.

Inside, Michelle asks Bill how he's doing. He says he's OK, but he's 
worried about his mom, because she doesn't let anything out. "You can let 
it out too," says Michelle. Bill says he'll be fine, because his grandpa 
always said that a Chamberlain can handle anything. He sees Michelle's 
gaze drift toward J, and rolls his eyes as he turns away from her.

Vanessa enters, followed by Matt, Dinah & Ross. They take seats up front & 
the minister begins the service. After a few standard biblical quotes, he 
calls upon Ross to speak. Roger stands at the back of the chapel.

"The first time I met Henry Chamberlain, I wasn't as frightened as I 
should have been," begins Ross. Roger sneers & rolls his eyes. Ross tells 
the tale of loving the teen-aged Vanessa and finding her father to be a 
man larger than life & wiser than anyone else he had ever known. Henry 
told Ross that he wasn't good enough for Vanessa, and while he may have 
been right, Ross (winking at Dinah) is glad they didn't listen. Ross says 
he learned a lot from Henry, especially how precious a daughter is to a 
father, "a special gift from God that few if us can call our own for very 
long." Tears stream down Dinah's face even as she smiles. Henry loved his 
daughter so much that he granted her wish, knowing that to truly hold on 
to someone, you have to let that person go. Van's eyes glitter with tears, 
but they do not fall. "And so, sweet Henry, as it was with your daughter, 
so now it is with you. And as you taught us, if we truly love you, now is 
the time for us to let go." Van's chin trembles slightly.

Ross's eulogy fades into Quint's. Quint tells how he did not know his 
father while growing up, and when he did get to know him, he often 
rejected Henry's advice, choosing instead to make his own mistakes, and 
paying for them dearly. He remembers one piece of Henry's wisdom: 
"Whenever you don't know what to do next, always do the next right thing." 
One of Henry's great gifts was to always know what the next right thing 
was. "All of us who are left behind by his passing will be diminished."

Roger watches as Dinah begins to speak. Marcus is standing nearby her, as 
if for moral support. Dinah shakily says she was doing fine until she got 
up in front of everyone to speak. She says she can't do the typical speech 
about how great her grandfather was, because the truth is, she hated 
everything he said to her, because he was always right. He always knew her 
& understood. She doesn't know what it will be like without him. She's 
just sorry that she didn't listen to him better. She breaks down & cries 
in Marcus' arms. Roger continues to watch, possibly a little touched.

Nola remembers "the shade of red that Henry turned" when he found out she 
was marrying into the family fortune. But he soon realized that wasn't 
what she really wanted. "What I really wanted was..." She trails off & 
just sighs as the camera focuses on Quint. "Hold on to Love" plays quietly 
in the background. Nola says she & Henry became friends & he became like a 
father to her. They found that they shared the belief that family comes 
first, no matter what. Nola turns toward the coffin & speaks directly to 
Henry: "You will live in my heart forever. God bless you."

Bill remembers Henry catching him with a girl on the porch. Henry told 
her, "Young lady, when I was your age, girls had chaperones so character 
had a chance to develop before Nature could extinguish all hope." Everyone 
laughs gently. Bill continues that the girl didn't have a clue what Henry 
was talking about, but she knew it was time to leave. This brings some 
more laughter. "It turns out Grandpa saved me from a real bummer. She 
wasn't the girl I thought she was." He turns toward the coffin & adds, 
"You knew how to pick 'em, Gramps. I'll miss you."

Josh says HB wanted to be there, but could not get there in time. But HB 
said what he would miss most about Henry were long summer nights, sitting 
on the porch in rocking chairs, ruminating about good liquor, a good hand 
of cards, and good & not-so-good women. They'd sit their with their drinks 
of choice (bourbon & branch for HB, cognac for Henry) & tell each other 
lies a 7-year-old wouldn't believe. HB said the only good thing about 
Henry passing on is that when HB goes, Henry will be there waiting for 
him, sitting on a porch with a couple of rocking chairs. "If Henry 
Chamberlain don't get into heaven, ain't nobody getting into heaven. 
Because Henry Chamberlain is the finest man I've ever wanted to punch in 
the nose." Josh says he will also miss Henry very much.

Josh walks back to his seat & Rog starts walking down the aisle. As he 
approaches the altar, Van stands in his way. "Oh no," she says. "You do 
not get to speak at my father's funeral." 

Rog says he just wants to pay his respects, but Van says he just wants to 
grandstand for Dinah. Rog says he never gave Henry the credit he was due & 
he would like to do it now. Van turns her back on Roger & Dinah pats her 
on the shoulder, facing her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Rog turns toward the 
rest of the people in the chapel & says Henry was the most worthy 
adversary he ever faced & a giant among men. "I never told him this, but 
all my life I looked up to him, I wanted to be like him." Rog knows that 
most people would say if that was his goal, he failed miserably & he knows 
that's also true. But he learned what really matters from Henry, and it 
sure isn't power or money, but family & friendship. At the end of the day, 
that's all that really counts. When he looks around at everyone who loved 
Henry, it's plain to see that Henry was very rich, even if he had died 
penniless. That's all Rog has to say, and he leaves the chapel.

Matt tells about how nervous he was when he asked Henry to marry Vanessa. 
"I spoke from the heart & told him I loved Vanessa and he asked me why & I 
told him, everything about her. And when I finished, he said, 'Boy, you've 
got good taste.'" Matt tells Henry he can rest now, because he took good 
care of his family & gave them a good life. "I promise you, as long as 
Vanessa will let me, I will take care of her as you did, every day, for 
the rest of my life."

The minister finishes the service. Still, Vanessa doesn't cry. Afterwards, 
outside the chapel, Lillian gives Van her condolences & the 2 women hug. 
Alex joins them & they walk out together.

Jessica approaches Nola & J, offering her condolences to Nola. She hopes 
they can get past the awkwardness between them. Nola walks away without a 
word. J tells Jessica he knows she's going to dump Quint as soon as she 
gets her grant, so she should stop pretending. "Yeah, I've had about 
enough out of you," she responds. J walks away & Jessica turns to face 
Quint, who asks what's going on. She says she was trying to be nice, just 
like Quint asked, but look how they treat her. "Give them a break, 
Jessica, for once in your damn life," advises Quint.

Dinah & Marcus watch as they roll the coffin out of the chapel. Marcus 
hugs her & gives her a little kiss on the head. Roger is standing behind 
them. Slowly, he approaches Dinah and says her name.

REVA'S HOUSE: Reva was hoping for some support from Buzz, but he says he's 
the "designated sane person." There is no way, for love nor money, her 
plan will work. Reva has an inspiration. She just has to make sure that no 
one will ask any questions. Buzz will have to help her. He smells a rat, 
but she plays on his sense of devotion. Before he agrees to anything, he 
needs to know what she wants him to do.

When we return from the commercial break, Buzz has already heard Reva's 
request & thinks she's nuts. She knows he's not completely turned off by 
the idea. Buzz says she's really pushing the envelope. She asks whether 
he'll do it or not. Buzz says it's a gamble, but he's a gambling man.

REARDON HOUSE: Van makes nice with her guests while Matt gazes at her 
across the room. She tells Ross she keeps thinking Henry's in California & 
she can pick up the phone to call him. He was always the one she leaned 
on. Ross says that responsibility has fallen to Matt. "Don't shut him out. 
Life is too short." Ross kisses Van on the cheek.

Bill tells Van that he talked to Billy, who said a lot of nice things 
about Henry. Billy sends his love & his deepest sympathies. Van hugs her 
son & tells her how proud she was of him at the service. She asks how he 
is & he says he's fine. He turns the question back on her. She says she's 
fine too, but it will take a little time. Bill asks if Van read her letter 
from Henry yet. She says no, she was saving it for later. Bill offers to 
read it for her, but she says no. Bill pecks her on the cheek.

Nola is having trouble getting her coat on, so Quint gives her a hand. She 
buttons up & tells him she's leaving. Quint says there's no need, but she 
disagrees. Quint wants to talk. He thinks she's going after the divorce 
awfully quickly. She asks if there's some reason she shouldn't. Quint says 
there are several. Nola says she learned from Henry that life is too 
precious to wasted on a doomed relationship. Quint thinks this sounds very 
final. "It is," she replies. J joins his mom to accompany her out. He is 
about to say something to Quint, but sees Jessica approaching, so he 
changes his mind & just leaves. Jessica asks Quint what's up. "Nothing," 
he replies.

Ed tells Michelle, Josh & Annie a story about when Henry was about to have 
gallbladder surgery. He wouldn't let them put him under until he had a 
word with the surgeon. Henry had researched the guy's grades & was 
appalled that he only got a B in epidemiology. He told the surgeon that if 
he had the bubonic plague or the swine flu instead of a bad gallbladder, 
he would never have allowed himself to be put in this position. Annie 
notes that whenever Henry came to the hospital, he brought flowers & 
chocolate for all the nurses. She notices the faraway look in Josh's eyes 
& wonders what's wrong. Nothing, says Josh, but he thinks it's time to go.

Matt asks Ross to stay a little longer, but Ross says he & Dinah have to 
get to court. Dinah is anxious to show her grandfather that she knows she 
made a mistake, and also wants to know what Rog did with her trust fund. 
Blake comes over with their coats & leaves with Ross.

Van is alone at the food table. She walks through the empty living room 
and picks up the letter from her father. She opens it, fighting back 
tears.

FUNERAL HOME: Marcus tells Rog to beat it--it's not a good time. Rog says 
he's worried about Dinah. He hopes it was OK that he spoke at the funeral. 
He asks her to let him drive her home. Marcus says he's doing that. Dinah 
says she'll see Rog in court. She & Marcus leave.

Rog takes a medicine bottle from his pocket & downs a couple of pills. 
Suddenly, he gasps & calls out to Dinah, clutching his chest. Dinah & 
Marcus return. Rog says he doesn't feel so well. Marcus doesn't care, but 
Dinah is somewhat concerned. Rog collapses into a chair. He says he got a 
pain in his arm & he can't catch his breath. Dinah worries that he's 
having a heart attack. She tells the doubting Marcus to call 911. They 
can't just let him die.

REVA'S HOUSE, EXTERIOR: Buzz says what the hell, he's in. Reva thanks him 
& says it could turn out to be a sucker bet. Buzz says he'll take his 
chances. Reva says he's one of a kind. He gives her a playful slap & says 
it takes one to know one. She goes inside for their coats & Buzz looks 
heavenward. "Oh Deenie, I know what you're going to say & you're right, 
but I don't want to hear it." Reva returns with the coats. The phone is 
ringing inside, but Reva is in too much of a hurry to answer it.

LEWIS HOUSE: Josh gives up when he gets no answer. Annie asks him what's 
wrong. He says it's nothing. She joins him on the couch & kisses him 
deeply, sticking her hands down his shirt. He doesn't stop her, but he 
looks a little uncomfortable.

REARDON HOUSE: Shakily, Van opens the letter & starts to read aloud in a 
trembling voice: "Vanessa, the bright sun of California woke me this 
morning & my first thoughts were of you. You will forgive me, darling, 
won't you, if I wax a bit poetical. Here I am, an old man, far away from 
you, who can't help but count his blessings. What a wonderful life I have. 
A better family no man could wish for. Marvelous friends, and more love 
than anyone has a right to call upon. If only my stocks & bonds could 
guarantee me all the time I want with the ones I love. 

"It makes me laugh to remember you as a teen-ager, wrinkling your nose in 
disgust when I would tell you money is only as good as the uses to which 
it is put. Now I think you share my feelings. Funny, I have traveled the 
world over & seen its glories, but no journey gives me more pleasure than 
the thought of coming home. Nothing tickles my fancy more than the tapioca 
pudding you make for me. And if you think this is a hint, you're right." 
Van smiles at this. 

"You were such a tiny one the terrible day that your mother died. I 
remember wondering how in the world I was going to do right by you. 
Somehow, my darling, through God's grace, we have done right by each 
other. And now I have the supreme joy of knowing you have found real 
happiness of your own. You found a man who loves you for what you are, a 
woman capable of strength and endearing weakness. Knowing that you & Matt 
will share a lifetime gives me great peace. 

"Darling one, you know this, but I must say it again. I treasure your 
love. In the darkest times it has strengthened me. It has made my life 
immeasurably, truly rich. You are my pride & my joy." As she reaches the 
end of the letter, Vanessa starts sobbing & breaking down. "Oh Daddy, I 
can't do without you. I can't, I can't!" she cries. Matt puts a hand on 
her shoulder & she rises into his arms, crying. The scene fades into a 
black-and-white photo of William Roerick, with the inscription, "In Loving 
Memory, William Roerick, 1912 to 1995." The updater blinks back her tears 
as the screen fades to black.


--Marni (marni@panix.com)


