-1/2/58-1/31/58. Dick pushes Kathy to have the surgery that could get her out of the wheelchair but Kathy is reluctant because her life is so happy now and she thinks being in the wheelchair is somehow responsible for the change. Ed has a ruptured appendix and Dick is going to perform his first surgery since he injured his hand on him. Papa has his doubts and Bert is adamantly against Dick performing the surgery but Bill allows it. The crisis tempts Bill to drink again but Papa snaps him out of it. While taking care of Ed, Paul remembers what it was like to be his age and without a father. Bruce seeks Clydeās advice on whether he should propose to Meta, which he later does but she puts off giving him an answer. Meta remembers when Mark broke things off with her for Kathy and Bruce wonders if Meta is still in love with Mark. She also wonders if she could ever love anybody else like she loved Joe. Trudy has the realization that, ironically, sheās over her long-standing jealousy of Meta and actually feels sorry for her now. Paul, better with children than with adults, bonds with Ed as he recovers from his operation and Paul considers going into pediatrics now that his old medical partner, Dick, is going back into surgery.
-2/3/58-2/28/58. Robin doesnāt want Kathy to have her operation. Now that she is finally content in life, Kathy is afraid successful surgery could ruin that. She doesnāt want to rock the boat and she is afraid of dying in the surgery. Meta tells Bruce about her lingering feelings for Joe and Mark and that sheās still not sure she wants to marry him. Kathy tells Mark sheās decided not to have the surgery. The Bauers are excited that Meta may marry Bruce. Paul becomes a medical resident at Cedars and says that he never wants to have children. Bruce and Metaās talk about marriage is interrupted by Bert calling with news that Kathy was knocked over into traffic in her wheelchair by a group of boys on bicycles and killed. Dick, Marie, Paul, Mark and Alice deal with the death of Kathy. In shock, Mark glances at the Tree of Life Kathy was weaving on the loom and sees that itās finished.Ā
-3/3/58-3/31/58. The aftermath of Kathyās death. Meta postpones accepting Bruceās marriage proposal to take care of Robin and leaves New York City to return home. Paul comforts a despondent Robin. The death of Kathy has made Trudy think about how she would be alone if something happened to Clyde since they decided not to have children. Clyde reminds her that, just because someone has a child, thereās no guarantee the child would stay around when they got older or be a comfort. Marian, a woman from Paulās past, moves to town which Paul isnāt happy about and dodges her attempts to reach out to him. Trudy tries to get Bruce to go out to California to visit Meta and bring her back as his wife but Bruce is concerned that Meta is interested in Mark again now that heās single. Dick begins working under Dr. Henry Meyers at General Hospital and he meets a nurse working with Dr. Meyers who turns out to be Marian Winters. When she recognizes who Dick is, she inundates him with questions about Paul. When Paul catches wind of this, he is not happy. Bill thinks Meta needs to concentrate more on Bruce and less on Robin. Marian finally gets a hold of Paul on the phone and he tells her to leave him alone before hanging up on her.Ā
-4/1/58-4/30/58. Paul is haunted by memories of being fatherless as a child. John Lipsey, Paulās pharmacist friend, thinks that Paulās plans to move to NYC is just another way for Paul to try to run from himself. Bill continues to worry that Meta is too obsessed with Robin and is trying to get close to Mark again, so he eagerly tells her that Markās Aunt Ruth is planning on coming from Connecticut to run the house. Meta is subconsciously disappointed. Robin finally feels like Mark is a father to her and Alice is like a sister to her. Marian finally makes Paul talk to her and threatens to tell the other doctors at the hospital about his past. The Bauers celebrate Metaās birthday and a dissatisfied Meta perks up when roses arrive from Bruce Banning. It is revealed that Marian is Paulās mother. Paul takes care of a new patient at the hospital named Anne.Ā
-5/1/58-5/30/58. Bruce comes for a visit. The reality of Kathyās death finally starts to hit Mark and Robin. Bruce tells Meta he plans to marry her but Meta is still in love with Mark and is torn when Paul says he thinks Robin should live with Meta to help her heal from her motherās death since sheās fallen into a depression. Marian reveals to her friend Edna that she couldnāt give up her child, Paul, even though she was an unwed mother, and told her son that her father died. Paulās move to NYC is aborted when Anneās physical condition becomes even more serious. Bert gets choked up when Michael goes on his first date. Paulās feelings for Anne grow as he becomes more and more concerned about her. She gets diagnosed with bacterial endocarditis.
-6/2/58-6/30/58. Marian turns out to be the best nurse to be able to take care of Anne so Paul reluctantly hires her but makes her promise not to tell anyone that sheās his mother. Bruce tells Meta he no longer wants to marry her because he realizes sheās still in love with Mark Holden. Tom Sloane, Anneās fiancĆ©, comes to visit Anne from San Francisco. Paul tells Anne heāll never get married because he doesnāt want a child because he wouldnāt wish himself on any child. Before leaving to go back to New York City, Bruce helps Meta face her feelings for Mark. Bruce tells her to let him know if she ever stops loving Mark because he, Bruce, āwill probably still be aroundā. Paul throws himself into the care of Anne as theĀ shame of being an illegitimate child seems to reach a crescendo with Marianās presence and all the questions from his friends and co-workers about his past. Meta wants to go on a vacation with Robin to Lake Louise and Bill is disappointed itās not to NYC to see Bruce.Ā
-7/1/58-7/30/58. Mark hasnāt been feeling well and is in Cedars for tests and it turns out to just be nervous exhaustion.Ā Trudy tells Clyde that Meta needs to be honest about herself and realize sheās glad Kathyās dead. Janet tries to get her hooks into Mark but Mark lets her know sheās barking up the wrong tree because heāll never love any other woman than Kathy. Now that sheās about to be released, Anne is reluctant to go back home to San Francisco and while Marian is nursing her, she hears Anne say Paulās name in her sleep.
-8/1/58-8/28/58. Anne tells Marian that her hospital stay has caused her to think about things for the first time and now sheās not sure she wants to live the pre-ordered life thatās been laid out for her in San Francisco by her family. She wants to stay in Los Angeles and doesnāt think she wants to marry Tom. Bert tries to point out to Meta that sheās not Robinās mother. Meta is defensive and says she loves Robin now as much as she loved Chuckie then and, since Robinās mother is dead, she is the next best thing to a mother Robin has. Paul is fighting his feelings for Anne so he tries to get her to go back to San Francisco. Meta admits to Bill that she never stopped loving Mark. Paul works up the nerve to ask Anne out for dinner but quickly loses heart when Anne is surprised by a visit from her mother Helene.
-9/1/58-9/30/58. Anne tells Helene she wants to break off her engagement to Tom. Paul gives in to his feelings for Anne. Mike says he might want to be a doctor one day. Helene learns from Anne that sheās in love with Paul and Helene, worried and disappointed, ironically tries to find out about Paulās background from Marian. Henry Benedict, Anneās father, comes from San Francisco for a visit and is told by Helene that Anne is breaking off her engagement because sheās in love with Paul. Henry thinks Paul is after Anneās money and vows to get to the bottom of all this. Tom comes down for a visit as well and Anne breaks the news to him. Meta meets the Holdens new housekeeper, Ruth Jannings, who is from Austria and has come to the U.S. via her brotherās home in Switzerland where her teenage son is still.Ā Ā
-10/3/58-10/31/58. Robin overhears Meta and Bert talking about Metaās feelings for Mark which excites Robin but Meta is afraid that Robin will tell Mark. Anne wonders to Marian if Paulās mother would have liked her, not knowing Marian is Paulās mother. Marian assures her she would have. Paul continues to fight his feelings for Anne due to her high social status and his illegitimate status, thinking heās not good enough for her. Mark offers to loan Ruth the money to bring her son over from Europe. Marian urges a self-hating Paul to meet his father.Ā
-11/3/58-11/24/58. Bill loses another job and tries to hide it from everybody but Bert. Paul confesses to John that he is illegitimate but John had already guessed. Paul decides to meet his father. Henry encourages Tom to try to win Anne back from Paul. Paul finds his fatherās house and meets his half-sister Jane outside. He doesnāt tell her who he is but they have a discussion and Paul learns that he had an older half-brother who died in the Korean war in 1950. Paul chickens out and leaves before heās able to meet his father, Fred Fletcher. Mark offers Bill a job with his firm but it would mean moving to Boston which Bert is against because it would mean Mike having to leave his school and friends for his final semester of high school.
-12/1/58-12/31/58. Papa Bauer suggests that Bert and the boys stay with him and Meta when Bill moves to Boston until Mike graduates. Meta isnāt happy about the idea because sheās hoping things will work out for her and Mark soon. Marian confesses to John that she is Paulās mother. Under pressure that his past will come out, Paul convinces Anne to elope with him and they are married by a justice of the peace. When Paul and Anne return to San Francisco from their elopement, their picture is taken for the society pages. Fred and Jane see the picture and see that the man who was looking for Fred and looks so much like the deceased Fred Jr., is using the last name āFletcherā and an intrigued Fred determines to get in touch with Paul. Fred sends a letter to Paul via the Benedicts. The letter arrives after Paul and Anne have left on their honeymoon and the return address of āFred Fletcherā intrigues Henry. He decides to go to the return address to find out more about Paul. Marian and John celebrate Christmas Eve with Paul and Anne in their new apartment. Meta, Papa, Bill, Bert, Mike, Ed, Mark, Robin, Alice, Dick, Marie, Paul and Anne all gather at Metaās house to celebrate Christmas. Bill takes a picture with a tripod of them all together to take with him when he moves to Boston. As Paul and Anne spend New Yearās Eve alone, Paul worries what the future holds.Ā
By
Reverend Ruthledge ·
