Andy Griffith: A Life Well Spent

I know I've posted two videos this week, but I must post just one more - not a music video this time, but one of Andy Griffith's famous homespun monologues. Andy Griffith died this week, and there has been an outpouring of comments all over the internet. People have been posting pictures from The Andy Griffith Show and talking about what an influence the man has had. One of my friends shared a very nice article about "Andy Griffith's kinder gentler community" that you can read here.

I grew up watching The Andy Griffith Show. When it was first run in prime time, I was exactly the same age as Opie. I think that made me pay close attention whenever Sheriff Taylor said something to his son, Opie. The truth is, many people were drawn to the town of Mayberry. Since it was first aired, The Andy Griffith Show has never been off the air. It has lived on in syndication, to the delight of many. How many of you have your favorite episodes? How many of you get a chuckle just by thinking of the interaction between Barney and Gomer?

Several years ago after Don Knotts died, I watched an interview with Andy Griffith, He made the comment that "Nobody could do what Don did -- many have tried, but no one has been able to do what he did." Likewise, no one else could do what Andy Griffith did. He brought delight to many in celebrating small town life with it's quirky citizens, and gave us all a wholesome image of a father and son, who found time to walk down to the fishing hole on a slow summer day, and who spent time teaching his son what was important in life. May he never leave the airwaves!

Before he was Sheriff Taylor, Andy Griffith made a name for himself with some homespun monologues. Because I love Shakespeare as well as Andy, I thought I would share Andy Griffith's rendition of Hamlet.