Back in May, I posted my wish list of actors who I was hoping would make a return to Guiding Light before September 18th. (At the time, we knew Ed and Holly were coming back, so I didn’t add them to the list.)
I went back to compare my list to who’s coming to say goodbye to GL, and two of the ten are returning: Melissa Hayden (Bridget) and the amazing Lisa Brown (Nola).
We’re also slated to see Jay Hammer (Fletcher) and Morgan Englund (Dylan) in the last week.
(Okay, it seems TOTALLY obvious to me what may happen in the last week, and why some of these folks are coming back, but I’ll keep my mouth shut for spoiler’s sake.)
Considering time and budget limitations, I think GL has really done a great job of selecting key, important characters to come back for one last visit.
Ed and Holly were on my “must” list, and I am
pleasantly surprised about Nola, though I think it would have been magnificent if Quinton could have also returned. (It would have gone a long way towards erasing the memory of their breakup.)
I still think a visit from India would have been magnificent, and so easy to work into the story. And of course, the biggest absence in the collective heart of GL fans is the absence of Ross Marler.
A | THOUSAND | OTHER | WORLDS 
Of course, so many of us GL fans are wondering why we couldn’t have seen “return visits” ALL ALONG over the past couple of years…but griping is pointless, now.
India would have been fabulous. What if she came back for Alan, who she once (briefly) had a mature romantic relationship with (around the time of his first(?) heart attack)?
ABC or OLTL or Frons or WHATEVER keeping Jerry verDorn from returning as Ross…not cool. SO not cool.
Marah Lewis, come on down! If Edmund’s after Reva’s ENTIRE family, shouldn’t she have at least been WARNED? (Hawk, Rusty, Roxie, and the rest of the Shaynes too. We’ve seen Hawk, but we used to get return visits from Rusty in the past.)
Trish Lewis would have been a welcome surprise, also. Rebecca Hollen was so lovely.
So many “what ifs”…like you, Patrick, I am at least grateful for the returns we will receive. I was so disappointed when ANOTHER WORLD ended without appearances from Alice, Pat, Liz, Iris, and others, all of which could probably have been accommodated.
Obviously I am bummed that ABC wouldn’t let Jerry come back to GL to play for a day or two as I won’t ever get the proper closure for our Ross. That said, I’m glad that we are getting back some past characters, and I hope to enjoy their visits. I just hope that those coming back get a tad more than just a wave, smile and exit stage left.