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| Original Airdate: December 12, 1974 Writer: Kathleen Hite Director: Ralph Waite |
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Prologue: |
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| "Old friends were treasured on Walton's Mountain, and it was a pleasurable time when people who had moved away would come back to visit or to remain. I remember a time when friends, both real and imaginary appeared in our village and how those friends affected our lives." | |||||
Synopsis: |
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On the way home from school the kids run into John-Boy. They are outside the old Beardsley place and despite having been abandoned for 5 years they notice that the back door is open. They look around but find no one there. When they get home John-Boy asks the children to help him wash the car. Grandpa finds Mason Beardsley at Ike's. Mason wants to prepare the house for his wife, Dealia’s return. Zeb is feeling nostalgic for the old days and he asks the family for their help at the Beardsley place. |
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Miss Minnie Doze, the Beardsley’s maid for 20 years overhears John-Boy while he is buying supplies for Mason at Ike’s store. She is surprised that no one contacted her to help the family settle back in. She goes to see Mason but notices that something isn't quite right with him. Later he lets it slip to her that Dealia has returned but is too tired for company at the moment. Mason’s son James Lee arrives and breaks it to the Waltons that his mother had passed away two years prior and that his father has been searching for his mother ever since. |
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Secondary Story: |
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| Elizabeth has an imaginary friend named Jimmy. To get out of chores Jim-Bob decides to make up an imaginary friend too who he names Alfred, Jimmy’s older and stronger brother who can do Jim-Bob’s chores. Elizabeth finds a place to place house with her imaginary friend in the Beardsley’s back yard. Mason comes along and she realizes that his wife Dealia is imaginary as well. |
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Epilogue: |
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| "A short time later Mr. Beardsley was released from his search on this earth, and we all came to feel that he at last, found his Delia. As I look back now at all the lessons we were to learn on Walton's Mountain I recall with increasing gratitude that our parents and grandparents were there to shed light and make clear what we couldn't understand." |
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Additional Cast: |
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Guest Stars: John Beal (Mason Beardsley), Madge Sinclair (Minnie Doze), George Garro (James Lee Beardsley) |
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