Memory Lane

The death of two pop culture icons today certainly threw me down on Memory Lane. I was in 7th grade in '69 when Jackson 5 and their Motown sound hit it big. And then a senior in '76 when the poster of Farrah Fawcett in the red swimsuit hit the press. The hair...the wings, everybody wanted them. Looking back, this was probably the beginning of the end of my innocence. My world was getting bigger than little Bryan, Texas.



For those of you under, let's say 45, Michael Jackson wasn't always weird. He was the youngest brother of a singing group of black boys, Jackson 5. I am going to say this and you just may not believe me....but I hadn't seen many black boys before entering junior high. And so they were still a novelty to me. I was a child of the 60's and our schools were segregated. I didn't know that. You don't know what you don't know....and I didn't have black friends and I didn't know they were out there. Let me remind you there were only 3 channels on the t.v. and no internet....so I wasn't dumb as much as not exposed to the world...like kids are today.

The most wonderful thing about Michael Jackson was his voice. I'm talking ABC, as simple as 123, as easy as Do Re Mi, ABC, 123, baby you and me....oh, my gosh...it sounded like a girl....it sounded like mE! I could sing along with him and we blended so well. I would crank up the volume on the little portable 45 in my lime green bedroom with fake blue fur bedspreads that I shared with my sister. I knew every word to every song....well 2 songs at the time. This was a 45 and it had one song on each side.

I wonder what the song was on the flip side of ABC? Trivia.

And then....he got out on his own. And got bigger and bigger. And more famous. And more wealthy. And more lonely. And he morphed into Diana Ross.

So today, Michael Jackson died. And I am sad. But, honestly, I have been sad about Michael Jackson for a long, long time. Haven't you? How does someone get so lost? I hope wherever Michael is floating today that he is free of his worries and troubles.

And Farrah's gone, too.


I have a totally different memory of Farrah. Her poster was everywhere. She was the "it" girl. And while I am sure all the boys my age (and older) remember her, too....I am sure it is way different than my memory. Farrah turned me into an insecure young girl. I mean, look at that skin. Look at those teeth. Look at that body. Look at that hair.

The skin? I was the whitest kid I knew. I never tanned but that didn't stop me from trying. Always blistered. Baby oil and iodine.....deep fried is more like it.

The teeth? I wore braces....and a headgear....that had to be worn to school a few hours a day.

The hair? I had alot of hair on my head but it was the limp kind. And I could get my hair to look like Farrah's while still in my bedroom but step outside....that look was history for the day.

And that body? Uh, I waited and waited for my uh, you know, to develop. I finally bought a padded bra. But this was years before padded bra inserts for bathing suits. And while I would appreciate now the hips and thighs I had then....they weren't anything like Farrah's long leggedness.

Well, you get the point. Farrah was blessed with a beautiful face and body while on this Earth. Her friends and family say she was beautiful on the inside, too. I hope wherever she's floating now...she is free of the painful cancer that took her.

Michael and Farrah are just like us after all. Mortal.