His obvious romantic interest was Olivia — doctor, sorority sister, beautiful. His longtime love, though, turned out to be Drucilla (Victoria Rowell), Olivia’s outspoken sister, who was also lovely but decidedly rougher around the edges. Drucilla was Cookie Lyon, minus the prison stint, before there was a Cookie Lyon.

I was groomed to care — our mother raised my brother and me while CBS soap operas played in the background. I knew about the Spauldings and the Bauers on “Guiding Light” long before I knew most of my classmates’ names at school.

I was more fond of “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light” — CBS programs sponsored by Procter & Gamble — but my mother and my brother were all for “Y & R.” It was more glamorous; it had fancier sets and better lighting.

When we got a VCR, “Y & R” had to be taped everyday, so they could watch it in the evenings.

This practice occasionally annoyed me, until Neil, Olivia and Drucilla arrived. Then I got interested. Black folks! And black folks tackling issues of assimilation and acceptance. Could Neil take Dru around his work colleagues, who were not ready for her bluntness? Would it just be easier to woo Olivia and be done with it?

Neil and Dru became not quite a supercouple (see Angie and Jesse of “All My Children” if you want that), but a memorable couple. They dealt with the outlandish stuff that all soap couples endure — infidelity, secret-keeping, family tensions. But they were real with each other.