-1/2/57-1/31/57. Mark gives Kathy an ultimatum that she marries him by the end of the month or theyâre over. Bill insists that neither Mark nor Kathy are welcome in his home and thinks Kathy is with Mark just to get even with Meta for marrying her father. Bad seed Robin tells Kathy she hates Mark and doesnât want to have anything to do with him. Helen lets Kathy know sheâs going back to Europe alone. Robin tells Kathy she doesnât want to go to California with her. Bert wants to adopt a little girl. Dick tells the Bauers that Albert has a liver disease and itâs very serious. Dick thinks Meta should give up any false hope she might have for Mark and her and he should probably give up hope for his hand recovering enough to do surgery.
-2/1/57-2/28/57. Kathy and Robin go back to Los Angeles and Robin is stubborn in her hatred for Mark. Paulâs humanity starts to come through when he has to give bad news to Elsie and Bert about Albert and finds it bothers him more than he thought it would. Kathy canât help seeing the irony of history repeating itself with Robin unable to accept Mark the way she wasnât able to accept Meta. Meta and Robin get reacquainted. Robin tries to win an ally with Meta. Meta is eager to get close to her step-granddaughter in spite of Billâs warnings to stay away from that lot. The Bauers plan a surprise 65th Birthday party for Papa Bauer. Paul opens up his own office and is discouraged by his lack of patients. On the eve of her wedding to Mark, Kathy is plagued by memories and a nightmare of Bob. She hopes the new marriage will allow her to finally let go of the past. Fred, Alice and Markâs aunt Ruth come in for Mark and Kathyâs wedding. Robin lets it be known to Alice that she hates both Fred and Mark and doesnât want Mark as a stepfather. Bill forbids Bert to go to the wedding so, instead, she goes over to comfort Meta. Robin refuses to go into the chapel to see Mark and Kathy get married.
-3/1/57-3/29/57. Papa tries to convince Meta that thereâs no hope for her and Mark now that Mark and Kathy are married but Meta says she canât just get over her feelings. Dick and Marie talk about his injured hand and how it is affecting him and their relationship together. Clyde and Trudy come to town and Meta and Trudy almost fight as they catch up on family events. Bert talks to an uninterested Bill about the animosity between Meta and Trudy. On March 5th, Bill, Bert, Meta, Trudy, Clyde, Dick, Marie, Elsie, Albert, Mike and Ed throw a surprise 65th birthday party for Papa Bauer. Mark and Kathy argue about Robin on their honeymoon. Clyde and Trudy discuss the family and Clyde tells Trudy not to gloat over Metaâs unhappiness. Marie tries to get Paul to help out Dick. Kathy asks Dick to refer her to a child psychiatrist for Robin. Clyde and Trudy head back to New York. Albert asks Paul not to let Elsie know that his illness is terminal and Paul doesnât let him know that he already has told her. Marie tells Dick that Jim and Lila are going to have a baby. Dick puts an engagement ring on Marie but puts off setting a date for the wedding until he gets his hand situation sorted. Meta wants to play a more active role in Robinâs life and Kathy warily agrees to it. Bill surprises Bert by coming home at lunch when she has allowed Kathy to come over behind Billâs back. Bill angrily reads Kathy the riot act and tells her to stay away from Meta and for her and Mark to stay away from his home. Bill warns Meta to stay away from Robin as he thinks she is trouble just like her mother is. Robin eavesdrops and finds out Kathy was married to Dick and puts Kathy on the spot in front of Dick and Marie by asking her about it. Mark is fed up with Robin and suggests sending her away.
-4/1/57-4/30/57. Papa and Bert warn Meta about getting close to Robin due to the potential hurt that will come her way being around Mark and Kathy. Meta doesnât listen to their warnings and bonds with Robin. Robin forces a meeting between Meta, Mark and Kathy. Kathy wants to move from California to get away from Meta. Kathy goes to Dr. Fletcher for a checkup where she learns that sheâs pregnant and sheâs not happy about it. Robin eavesdrops and learns that Kathy is pregnant and tells Mark who is mad that Kathy didnât tell him herself. Paul and Dick go into practice together. Bill and Bert sell the Brandon house and buy a new house. Bill, once again, is worried that theyâre getting in over their head financially.Â
-5/1/57-5/31/57. Dick accuses Kathy of not having loved anybody but Joe and Mark, including her own daughter. Kathy thinks Metaâs overinterest in Robin is because sheâs really interested in Mark. Papa thinks itâs because sheâs lonely and itâs unhealthy. Bill doesnât like it because he doesnât like Robin and thinks sheâs trouble and another Kathy. Albert and Elsie move back to Arizona. Mark wants to adopt Robin to make her Robin Holden instead of Robin Lang. Meta goes to Mark to warn him about Robinâs isolation. A furious Kathy walks in on them. Bill and Bert leave the Brandons old house and move into their new house. Meta and Bert reminisce about the Brandons and wonder how they are. Kathy starts to hemorrhage and she has to take to the bed in order not to lose the baby. Jim and Lila, Marieâs parents and two brothers, Richard, Laura, Karen and Charles, Paul and the Bauers all attend Dick and Marieâs wedding on May 31st.
-6/3/57-6/28/57. Everyone discusses their individual opinion about the enigmatic Dr. Paul Fletcher who has mysteriously disappeared. The resemblance between Dan Clark and Paulâs physical resemblance and Danâs inquiries about Paul when he was in town visiting, makes Marie think the two men are related. Janet Johnson, newly divorced, returns to Los Angeles and goes to see Dick. Paul surprisingly shows up in Arizona to visit Albert in the hospital. Michael graduates from military school and comes back home. Robin meets Michael and wants to skip a grade and go to high school with her cousin-in-law. Paul surprises Dick by showing back up at work and Dick angrily accuses Paul of being irresponsible which prompts Paul to declare he doesnât want to be partners any longer. Paul and Robin bond. Mike is about to turn 16, Robin 13. 17-year-old Alice Holden comes to live with her brother Mark and Robin makes her unwelcome because she doesnât want her there.Â
-7/1/57-7/31/57. Kathy laments to Bert about Robinâs selfishness and Bert bluntly tells Kathy that itâs her fault because of her own selfishness. Dick and Paul agree to remain in partnership. Bert has the first Bauer picnic for the 4th of July now that she has her new house. Mike and Robin get to know each other better before they go with Bill to watch the fireworks. Robin doesnât want to leave the Bauers nor go back to her mother. Kathy falls while putting up new shelves in the bathroom linen closet with Alice and canât move. Sheâs rushed to the hospital and loses the baby. Robin goes to live with Meta while Kathy is in the hospital. Kathy has nerve damage from the fractured sacrum she sustained in the fall. She also learns that she wonât be able to have another baby. Bert says she hates Paul. Albert dies. Paul tells Mark that Kathy will have to be in a wheelchair but he hopes itâs not permanent. Paul and Robin bond as they identify with each other. Robin tells Paul she doubts whether her mother really loves her. Bill and Bert come back from the funeral in Arizona without Elsie as she has decided to stay there even though she is alone now. The Bauers have varying degrees of disappointment.Â
-8/1/57-8/30/57. Mark is angry to learn both that Paul took it upon himself to tell Robin of Kathyâs condition and to overhear Robin tell Alice that sheâs glad that Kathy lost Markâs baby. So is Dick. Paul thinks he did the right thing because of his bond with Robin which is an emotional connection that bewilders everyone else. Kathy gets the bad news that she wonât be able to walk and fears itâs permanent. Jim and Lila have had a baby boy. Kathy tries to get used to her new life in a wheelchair. Dick and Bill argue over their different views on Meta. Dick thinks Meta could help bring the Holden family together but Bill thinks her involvement with the Holdens can only bring more heartache to her because of her lingering feelings for Mark. Robin lets it be known to Meta her preference for her over her own mother. Kathy psychs herself up enough to finally sit in the wheelchair. Mike likes Alice and wants to take her out. Robinâs defiance against him angers Mark to the point of grabbing her and Robin shouts for him never to touch her again.Â
-9/2/57-9/30/57. Kathy tries to get used to the wheelchair. Mark gets tired of Paul crossing boundaries and tells him he wants him off Kathyâs case. Bill surprises Kathy with a visit to her at the hospital and offers her an olive branch. Robinâs nastiness towards Mark and Alice gets worse. With much hesitation and trepidation, Kathy finally leaves the hospital to go back home. Mike takes Alice on a date and Bert finds him smoking. Meta says she wants to reach out to Kathy but Bert thinks itâs because sheâs still hung up on Mark and wants to be around him. Bert regrets her remarks when she thinks about how lonely Meta must be. Kathy angrily tells Bert that she doesnât need any help when Bert starts to push her in the wheelchair. Dick tells Kathy that surgery is possible even though the chance of it being successful is one in a thousand. Kathy is excited about it. Marie is worried that sheâs not getting pregnant. Robin tells Meta that Mark doesnât want Paul working with Kathy because he knows Paul and Kathy like each other. In a rare moment of being open and vulnerable, Paul confides to Marie that the bond he feels with Robin is because he too had a father who died before he was born.
-10/1/57-10/31/57. Kathy is starting to feel a little hope with the news of the surgery. Bert gets to know her neighbor, Liz Dunn, better. Paul and Bert continue to dislike each other. Mark becomes incensed when he learns that Robin is creating and spreading rumors about him being jealous because Paul and Kathy like each other. Kathy doesnât want to wait for her surgery and pushes for it to happen as soon as possible. Kathyâs hopes are deflated when Dr. Carpenter tells her he wonât do the surgery until the Spring, âif at allâ. Kathy starts to think about her own mortality and worries what will happen to Robin if something happens to her. Kathy is disturbed when Robin dresses up as a ghost for Halloween.Â
-11/1/57-11/29/57. Dick is determined to do surgery again. Marie has accepted that she canât have children and wants to adopt but Dick isnât there yet. Bert tries to unite the whole family once again but finds it difficult with feelings still strained between Meta, Kathy, Mark and Bill. When asked about why she has a fascination with Paul, Robin tells Kathy that she likes to think that had her father lived he would be like Paul. Meta decides to go to New York City for a vacation and writes a letter to Bruce Banning to let him know sheâs coming out there. Kathy is pleased that Robinâs attitude is softening and they are getting closer. Meta stays in a hotel in NYC but Clyde talks Trudy into inviting Meta to stay with them. Bruce comes to Metaâs hotel room and they catch up with each other. Meta stops by to see Mrs. Laury.Â
-12/2/57-12/31/57. Kathy expresses gratitude to Mark about her and Robinâs reconciliation and getting closer. Kathy is ambiguous about scheduling her back operation. Meta goes by to see Trudy and asks her why Clyde has alienated her from her family. Bruce tries to get Meta to let go of the past and move on but Meta doesnât think thereâs a future for her since Joe died. Meta and Trudy discuss Trudyâs old resentments of Meta and Metaâs feelings for Mark. Everyone tries to figure out the loner Paul who they see as cynical and hard to get along with. Clyde tells Meta that Bruce is all wrong for her. Bruce implores Meta to forget about Mark Holden. Mark adopts Robin. Kathy has taken up needlepoint and is making a pattern she calls Tree of Life because each stroke on the loom is like life experiences which makes up a bigger picture which resembles a tree. A depressed and lonely Paul perks up when Robin calls to invite him over for Christmas. Papa, Bill, Bert, Mike and Billy (Ed) go over to the Holdens to spend Christmas with Mark, Kathy, Alice and Robin. There is some awkwardness between Mark and Bill. Dick, Marie and Paul come over later and Robin announces to everyone that she has been officially adopted by Mark. Dick breaks the New Yearâs Eve tradition he has with Paul and doesnât go to the maternity ward with him. Paul welcomes the first baby of 1958 alone.
-12/25/57. A depressed and lonely Paul perks up when Robin calls. She invites him over for Christmas. Papa, Bill, Bert, Mike and Billy (Ed) go over to the Holdens to spend Christmas with Mark, Kathy, Alice and Robin. There is some awkwardness between Mark and Bill. Dick, Marie and Paul come over later and Robin announces to everyone that she has been officially adopted by Mark.
By
Reverend Ruthledge ·
