Has my DH been on the road to long?

[Ladysonja]

DH husband drives for a living and told me a funny story that does end with a question.

This week he was driving through Beatrice, NE on his way home to Texas.

He thinks he has had too many hours behind the wheel or is spending to much time alone because here is his thought process that brings up the final question...

While driving through Beatrice, NE, he began to ponder if Aunt B from the Andy Griffith shows was short for Beatrice. Then he says that he thought it was kinda werid that a grown man (Andy) with a son (Opie) was living with his Aunt (B)...

The next question that ran threw his head was "were was Opie's mother"?

Does anyone know the answer to the following questions?

1. Does anyone know what happened to Opie's Mother?
a. Is Andy a Widow?
b. Did she die in child birth
c. Did Barney shot her with his 1 bullet gun?

2. Does my DH need more quaility time at home with me and the chickens or has his cheese slipped off his cracker?

We really would like to know about #1 question...

 

[luvmychicknkids]

I am almost 100% sure that I remember he was a widower. Not sure when or how they told though. It seems kinda strange to me that they lived with his Aunt, too, except she kinda seemed a bit...off....so maybe it was to help her out? ETA...you have to keep in mind the era, too. Women were not generally very self sufficient then. Certainly not an elderly woman.

I think he needs more quality wife/chicken time!!!!

 

[Poison Ivy]

This is what I found on it.

What happened to Andy Taylor's first wife (Opie's mother)?
All we were ever told is that she died and that was told us on the pilot for "The Andy Griffith Show" which appeared on "The Danny Thomas Show". Opie's pet turtle , Wilford, was stepped on and killed by "Mrs. Balford" out in front of the ice cream parlor and he wants Andy to arrest her for 'murder', give her a fair trial and "hang her." Andy tries to help Opie deal with the loss by talking about how it was when Opie's 'ma' died. Opie looks to Andy and says, "Who stepped on Ma?" That was the only time Andy's first wife was mentioned.
Besides the pilot, she is also mentioned in "Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee." Opie asks Andy, "Did you and Ma have that kind of love?" Andy replies, "Yes, son, we did."

We never do learn her name, or anything else about her, but there are a few hints here and there.

In the pilot episode, Andy reminds Opie, "I lost your mom when you was just the least little speck of a baby." Of course, there are lots of things in the pilot episode that changed before the first episode, but I'd consider this official since it established from the very beginning that Andy was a widower raising a boy, and that never changed throughout the entire series.

Therefore, Opie never knew his mother. Perhaps she died giving birth. Andy might have meant something else by "lost," but I doubt it. It would have been unthinkable for a woman to "run off" from a good man like Sheriff Taylor.

We also learn in other episodes that Barney was Andy's best man (he says "I stood up for you when you first got married," which I assume means he was best man), and that Barney is Opie's Godfather. I suppose it is possible that Andy had been married twice (before Helen came along), but there's no evidence to suggest this.

 

[blossom hen]

OK. I think Aunt Bee came to live at Andy's house to help care for Opie and be the housekeeper. In that time, that wasn't unusual for a "maiden aunt" to do.

Edited to add the following from Wikipedia:

Beatrice Taylor (commonly known as Aunt Bee) is a fictional character from the 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. The show was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960 until April 1, 1968. The character migrated to the spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. (1968-1971) when The Andy Griffith Show ended its run.

Aunt Bee is the paternal aunt of Sheriff Andy Taylor and grand-aunt to his son Opie Taylor. In the premier episode of The Andy Griffith Show, "The New Housekeeper", Aunt Bee returns to Mayberry after a five year sojourn in Morgantown, West Virginia, when Andy's housekeeper Rose marries and leaves his house. Aunt Bee thereafter manages Andy's household and becomes Opie's surrogate mother and grandmother. Andy explains to Opie that he was raised by Aunt Bee and Bee later speaks of raising other Taylors.