I wanna be a Clair Huxtable

I love "The Cosby Show." I always have and I always will.

Every night at 8 o'clock, "Cosby Show" reruns are on for an hour on TV Land. I think I've seen every single episode ever made at least a dozen times, but I still watch the reruns just to make sure. No matter how many times I see them, these shows still make me smile.

Yes, Bill Cosby is funny. Yes, the shows always sent a good message. Yes, the morals were the same that I grew up with, etc...etc. But that's not why this show means so much to me.

I grew up an only child living with a single mom. My parents divorced when I was 9, so I saw my dad every-other weekend and for a couple of months in the summer. Both of my parents were good parents who loved me very much. It wasn't a perfect childhood, but it was what it was and I'm grateful for everything that I did have. It made me into the fabulous person you see before you today.

"The Cosby Show" gave me something that I didn't have growing up--a two parent home with lots of siblings. It was totally different than what I had, which is probably what made it so appealing. I wanted a silly dad who was around and available. A dad that disciplined with humor and showed his love in silly ways like giving Zrbtts (pronounced "zurburts"). That wasn't my reality, so I got what I didn't have through a T.V. show.

There was lots to love about the show. Cliff was always funny and the kids always doing funny things. But the main reason that I loved "The Cosby Show" so much was because of the relationship between Clair and Cliff. Sure, I wanted them to be my parents, dreamed about it even. But more than that, I wanted to have their marriage when I grew up.

How could you not love these people?


It was clear how crazy Clair and Cliff were about each other. They were both well-educated, smart people who still knew how to have fun, raise their kids with lots of humor, and were absolutely crazy about each other.

I loved how tough Clair was and how much she loved her family. She never put up with any of their crap and they all respected her for it. She was adored by her husband, and she was just as crazy about him. The reason that their family was such a success was because their marriage was so strong. We're they perfect? Hell no, but they handled it all with love and humor just the way I hope I always do.

Am I nuts for giving too much credit to a T.V. show? Perhaps. But there are worse things to want to emulate.

I don't think that it's so bad to have a T.V. character as a role model, not one like Clair Huxtable anyway. She's a lot to live up to, but I'll continue to try. Now if I could just get the Golfer some husband lessons from Mr. Cosby, we'd be all set.