Tuesday, February 11, 2014

the bobby soxer and i...

(portrait by joseph martin: martin studio)

when i was in high school,
i spent a lot of time with
(mary ann (mcclure) blackwell),
"mim".
on various occasions 
she commented i reminded
her so much of shirley temple...
to which i always
tucked my chin,
tilted my head,
flashed a big smile,
and
poked my cheek
twisting my pointer
into my sole dimple.

(i was quite familiar
with shirley temple...
growing up,
she was my favorite!!!
i had seen "all" of her movies-
dozens of times.
so, when mim 
said i looked like her,
i thought she meant
my curly hair,
my big eyes,
and my chubby, little-girl face.)

hence, her comparison
always made me
giggle.

~@~

it wasn't until
my sophomore year in college
that i realized she meant
i REALLY looked like 
shirley temple.
i was in my dorm studying
one night
with the television 
turned to 
the american movie classics channel.
i wasn't really paying attention
to our t.v. 
until i heard an advertisement 
for the movie, 
the bachelor and the bobby soxer,
which was to air next
co-staring...
 shirley temple.

i remember thinking to myself,
"the bachelor and the bobby soxer"...
i've never heard of that one.
i continued studying.

a little later,
my roommate, susan bennett,
came in from night class.
she put down her things,
grabbed her toiletries,
and 
told me she was off to take a shower.
while she was gone,
the movie started.
i looked up
to see a grown-up
(well, my aged)
shirley temple.

i was shocked!

i did look like her...
like uncannily so!

when mimi said i reminded her
of shirley, she wasn't kidding.

~@~

i couldn't wait for susan
to return from her shower
so she could validate what i was seeing.
finally, she returned, but
the movie had gone to commercial.
she proceeded to tell me about
her day and night class
with her crush, 
vish.

when she paused,
i turned her attention to the t.v.

me: does she remind you of anyone?
susan: who?
me: the girl in the movie.
(i pointed at shirley.)
susan: YOU!  she looks
just like you!  who is that?
me:  shirley temple.
susan: really?
me: yeah.
susan: wow,
she even dresses
like you 
and has the same do!

it was true;
i always preferred 
the classic look over 
the-look-of-the-day.
from her hair to her bobby socks,
we even shared style.
-looking back,
i was probably the biggest
nerd on campus, ha!-

~@~

when i awoke this morning 
and rejoined social media
i read
of shirley's death 
and was immediately, immensely 
saddened.

my doppelganger 
had died at the age of 85.

my cousin, theresa,
had posted a status update 
to facebook,
"rip, shirley temple,
hope you land on the sunny beaches 
of 
peppermint bay!"

i couldn't have put it better
myself.

shirley temple black,
may you spend eternity
enjoying: 
Lemonade stands,
Everywhere
Crackerjack bands,
Fill the air,
And there you are,
Happy landings on a chocolate bar.
See the sugar bowl
Do a tootsie roll
In a big bad devils food cake
and never, ever
have to experience another 
tummy ache.

love and God's blessings, 
dani xxx

2 comments:

Sally said...

She was wonderful, wasn't she Dani? I loved her, and I love you so there's another comparison.

May she rest well.

xoxo

Sally said...

Oh, and YES my goodness, you looked just like her! Awesomeness, the both of you.
So beautiful.