And now, as my Christmas gift to you, dear reader:
ICE CASTLES
A Christmas Play[Lynn sits in her dressing room drinking coffee]
Mary (knocking on Lynn’s door): Knock knock. It’s Mary… May I speak with you?
Lynn (still drinking coffee): Yes.
Mary: Lynn, I’m glad it wasn’t more serious. That the doctors gave you a clean bill of health.
Lynn: Yes. A relief.
Mary: I spoke with your father.
Lynn: What did he say?
Mary: He was concerned about you. Very concerned. Is it the stress of COMPETITION that triggered your fainting spell? Or SOMETHING ELSE?
Lynn: I’m going to tell you a story, Mary. About that PHOTO you found… This photo that I dropped… that you found earlier…
Mary: Yes? Who is it?
Lynn: This is Greg. He was my best friend.
Mary: Was?
Lynne: Let’s take a walk, Mary. I could use some FRESH AIR!
Mary: I could use some too. It can be CLARIFYING on so many levels.
Lynn: I’ll EXPLAIN MORE about the photo when we get out of doors.
Mary: Please do. I don’t understand what happened. But I want to know more!
(They go outside)
Lynn (showing Mary the photo that caused her to scream in agony earlier): Greg and I met at the rink. We became fast friends.
Mary: He has a pleasant face. He looks very approachable.
Lynn: Yes. He was one of the few people I was truly able to talk to! You know, BE MYSELF with! Unlike…
Mary: Unlike your father? I know that relationship leaves a lot to be desired.
Lynn: I was the happiest I’d ever been. Greg and I spent a lot of time together. Maybe too much time.
Mary: What do you mean?
Lynn: It was an innocent friendship. But my father did not approve because IT TOOK TIME AWAY FROM MY SKATING… - My father threatened to move me to another skating facility far away if I continued the friendship! So I started acting very COLD to Greg. I stopped talking to him! He didn’t understand. He thought it was something he did. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Mary: So you reluctantly ended your friendship with Greg because your father wanted you to focus on your training?
Lynn: Yes. And I never explained to Greg WHY I stopped talking to him. I regretted that! Because what happened to him afterwards will haunt me forever! When I see this photo, I think of my friendship with Greg… And I regret how it ended.
Mary: After you parted ways, what happened to Greg?
Lynn: It was almost a year later… After we stopped talking, I focused all my energy on my skating. I had just won the Junior Championship when I heard the news. Greg was with his older brother who was driving his car along an icy road. The car crashed. There were no survivors. When I heard about Greg’s accident, my heart stopped!
Mary: It must have been very traumatic for you.
Lynn: It was devastating. I went from winning the Junior Championship to learning about Greg’s death all on the same day! Greg was the kindest person I ever met, and to think of how I left things between us! …So unfinished! I should have told him why I stopped talking to him! He thought I hated him, when the opposite was true! He died not knowing. After Greg died, I was a ROBOT! … Skating all my elements, not really feeling like I was there. I did exactly what I was told.
Mary: He wouldn’t want you to dwell on his death, nor would he want you to skate in a limited way because of what happened!
(They go inside the skating rink)
Lynn: I SHOULD have stood up to my father! I SHOULDN’T have stopped talking to Greg! I SHOULD have told him why I did it!
Mary: You can’t dwell on the past, Lynn. What’s done is over. Keep only the best of your memories.
Lynn: If only I could. When I’m with my father, I feel angry at what happened! And I feel beaten down by his constant criticism!
Mary: He IS very hard on you… because he never made it past regionals. He wants you to go further than he did.
Lynn: My father’s the perfect example of, “Those who cannot do, teach”! Nothing I do is right in my father’s eyes! I can’t endure his way of coaching me anymore!
Mary: You should talk to him.
Lynn: He wouldn’t listen to me! He didn’t listen to me about Greg, and he won’t listen to me now! I stopped talking to Greg, because my father told me to end our friendship. I think of how I shouldn’t have done it [sic]! Especially since Greg’s gone now!
Mary: Your father doesn’t realize that you are still not over your friend’s death.
Lynn: It’s better that he doesn’t know, Mary. My friendship with Greg was personal. It will always be a part of my heart… the part of me that my father can’t criticize! Besides, he doesn’t have to. I do enough of that on my own.
Mary: Greg’s death was not your fault, Lynn. Please don’t punish yourself about it! He’d be proud of what you’re achieving in skating.
Lynn: Yes he would. He loved me. I wish my father felt the same way. When my father’s coaching me, I sometimes think that he HATES me.
Mary: He doesn’t hate you! He sees VICTORY in you. He’s harsh because… his dreams were never realized. As wrong as it is… he’s realizing them through you.
Lynn: At MY EXPENSE! I’m not sure how much I can take! Did you hear the belittling way he talks when he’s coaching me?
Mary: Yes, Lynn, it seems like you’re going through a lot… and at the same time, you’re having communication problems with your father.
Lynn: HE’S the one with the problem! My father won't LISTEN to me! He never does! All he thinks about is making me win! I've reached a point where... I'm not sure I WANT to win anymore! He practically bullied my love of skating right out the window.
Mary: Don't let it happen. Your talent is too precious.
I've always thought I had some sort of advantage over Mary Worth because I discovered a few years back that I can actually read thought balloons. But now I think she can read them too. Perhaps that's what makes her such an awesome meddler. 
Most of us figured out what a heartless jerk Frank was when he cheerfully told Mary not to be sorry that his wife had died, but just in case anyone still questions Frank's malevolence, today's strip pretty much says it all. In the end, Lynn ends up skating with Elmo on Ice, drinking herself into a cold oblivion. 
Sometimes commentary on my part is just a waste of time. Today's strip pretty much needs no comment. This is why we LOVE Mary Worth.
It's not your place? Mary Worth, who are you? It's like I don't even know you anymore.
You know, it occurs to me that Karen Moy might be feeling a lot like Lynn, and she might think of all those cynical web sites out there that criticize her work as a giant World Wide Frank. Fortunately, this blog is sort of like Mary Worth. We love Karen Moy unconditionally, we appreciate her talent and the tremendous pressure of producing four lines of dialogue each and every day. Our only goal is to celebrate her accomplishments and inspire her to do even better.
Opportunity seldom knocks twice, and neither does Mary Worth since she usually barges right in... but in this story, Mary can't stop knocking on every door she passes!
And Mary's knock on Lynn's bedroom door led to weeks of conversation about Lynn's mysterious past:
And now we get to enjoy Mary explaining everything to Frank that Lynn just explained to Mary. This should be really exciting.
The worst thing about placid Lake Tranquil's state-of-the-art skating rink? Late comers who have to climb over everybody (and I mean everybody) to get to their seats.
Oh, Lynn, wake up! You're the one with the problem, which you'd realize if you'd just open your eyes and see that while you were on your walk together, Mary Worth carefully led you to the Ice Rink of Despair. The clues are all around you! Just ask yourself, "How big was that Zamboni? Are you on the top row, or sitting rink-side? Why are there only seat backs, but no seats in this arena? How many people can this arena hold, and how big are they? Some must be huge!" Those giant seats are for the big demons. Lynn, put your skates back on and get out on the Ice of Despondency where you will be skating for the next three lifetimes or Mary Worth story lines, whichever comes first.
