{"id":15078,"date":"2017-08-04T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=15078"},"modified":"2017-08-04T10:05:17","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T15:05:17","slug":"kathy-omalleys-girlfriends-verse-strikes-chord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/08\/04\/kathy-omalleys-girlfriends-verse-strikes-chord\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathy O\u2019Malley\u2019s \u2018Girlfriends\u2019 verse strikes a chord"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Kathy O'Malley<\/p><\/div>\n

Although \u201cThe Kathy & Judy Show\u201d has been off the air<\/a> since February, Kathy O\u2019Malley and Judy Markey still have a powerful connection with their audience.<\/p>\n

No wonder O\u2019Malley and Markey\u2019s legion of fans \u2014 a loose-knit sorority known as \u201cThe Girlfriends\u201d \u2014 was so disappointed when the duo was dropped from the Saturday lineup on WGN AM 720.<\/a> (It was the second time they\u2019d been canceled by the Tribune Broadcasting news\/talk station. Their first run together ended in 2009 after 20 years in middays.)<\/p>\n

Just this week a poem O\u2019Malley posted on the \u201cKathy and Judy\u201d Facebook fan page<\/a> generated more than 166,000 likes and more than 25,000 comments in only five days. It\u2019s been shared more than 90,000 times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly was stunned by the reaction,\u201d O\u2019Malley said Thursday. Nothing she or Markey had written for the site ever made such an impact.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Malley said it took her 10 minutes to compose the verse, a bittersweet ode to the maladies and mishaps common to older women. \u201cThis certainly was not a Judith Viorst piece,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was just a \u2018sit down and make it rhyme' poem. I know it's very pedestrian. But it spoke to people. They got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outpouring of comments, she said, \u201cemphasized how strong that demographic is and how they\u2019re not being heard. Women of a certain age \u2014 and I\u2019m thinking of women over 60 \u2014 simply are being dismissed. But they love each other and support each other. I think it\u2019s cool that it spoke to women we've loved for our whole career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now living in Glen Ellyn, O\u2019Malley devotes her time to community volunteer work. She\u2019s on the board of the People\u2019s Resource Center <\/a>and serves as a special advocate with CASA of DuPage County<\/a> representing a child going through the court system.<\/p>\n

Here is the text of O\u2019Malley\u2019s Facebook post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently ate at a restaurant where a table of girlfriends of a certain age were having a wonderful time, and came home and wrote this. You may recognize somebody, maybe yourself . . .<\/em><\/p>\n

Lunch with Girlfriends<\/em>
\nBy Kathy O\u2019Malley<\/em><\/p>\n

Elaine\u2019s vertigo has never been worse<\/em>
\nKay can\u2019t recall where she left her purse<\/em>
\nRhonda\u2019s about to replace her knees<\/em>
\nLinda\u2019s breathing is tinged with a wheeze<\/em><\/p>\n

Donna's left boob has a troublesome lump<\/em>
\nDiane\u2019s on her third trip to take a dump<\/em>
\nLorraine\u2019s husband can\u2019t remember a thing<\/em>
\nNine years a widow, Marge still wears her ring<\/em><\/p>\n

Marlene is dealing with another UTI<\/em>
\nSally\u2019s giving a hearing aid another try<\/em>
\nMarie has decided she can\u2019t drive at night<\/em>
\nSharon still wears clothes two sizes too tight<\/em><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been through divorces and babies and wakes<\/em>
\nThey do for each other whatever it takes<\/em>
\nThey\u2019ve already buried Marcia and Kate<\/em>
\nAnd truthfully, Lizzie\u2019s not looking so great<\/em><\/p>\n

So whenever they can, they get out to eat<\/em>
\nOpen bottles of wine and forget their sore feet<\/em>
\nThere\u2019s laughing and crying and letting down guards<\/em>
\nAnd when the bill comes, there\u2019s ten credit cards<\/em><\/p>\n

So here\u2019s to the waiters who keep orders straight<\/em>
\nAnd to the places that let lunches run three hours late<\/em>
\nAnd here\u2019s to the girlfriends, those near and those far<\/em>
\nHere's to the girlfriends, you know who you are<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although \u201cThe Kathy & Judy Show\u201d has been off the air since February, Kathy O\u2019Malley and Judy Markey still have a powerful connection with their audience. No wonder O\u2019Malley and Markey\u2019s legion of fans \u2014 a loose-knit sorority known as \u201cThe Girlfriends\u201d \u2014 was so disappointed when the duo was dropped from the Saturday lineup... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15078"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15090,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15078\/revisions\/15090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}