A member of an email list that I am a part of recently commented that Colby Chandler should be "normal". THere was no clear explanation of what normal is or how it would fit into a soap opera community--only that this character should be normal. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, normal is conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern. If the family she was born into is any indication, Colby's chances of having a normal life are very slim.

First, let's look at her mother. Liza's Pine Valley days consisted of falling in love with Tad, only to end the affair after learning that he was also sleeping with her mother.. Her feelings for Tad did not end. One night spent together later cost him his marriage. And pushed her toward marrying Adam. She was willing to do anything to make Tad jealous. To her surprise, she fell in love with her husband. After this marriage ended, Liza was so desperate for a child that she went to a fertility clinic. For nearly a year, she believed Tad's brother Jake had donated the sperm used to create her daughter. It wasn't until after she and Adam admitted they loved each other and remarried that Liza learned Adam was the true father of Colby.

The sperm switch was not Adam's first or last attempt to control his children. From the moment she arrived in Pine Valley, Adam meddled in his daughter Hayley's love life. In his attempt to "own" his son, Adam attempted to drive Dixie insane. Years later, he planned to send Junior to boarding school to get him away from his mother. Adam will stop at nothing, including blackmail, to get what he wants.

Then there are the lives led by Colby's siblings. Hayley was raised by an alcoholic mother, took the blame for a drunk driving accident caused by her mother, and eventually became an alcoholic herself. Two promising romances were ruined by her father, and her first two husbands were less than ideal--the first tried to rape her while the second tried to kill her mother. Hayley went on to marry the love of her life Mateo, after being drugged and raped by his old friend, only to learn that Mateo was already married to someone else.

Then there is J.R. His parents constant bickering led him to drug use, while his mother's "death" led him to alcohol. He left town to clear his head, only to come back with a new wife--who immediately slept with his brother. His son was born, switched with a daughter he thought was his, then kidnapped by his ex-wife and brother. An aunt he never knew of posed as his mother, his mother came back from the dead, and he nearly killed his best friend in an attempt to kill his wife.

With a family like this, "normal" is a state of mind that Colby is unlikely to ever see. But it sure will be fun to watch her try!