Where were you in 1983? What were you doing? That leads to this question:
Did you see the movie Vision Quest?
This is a “coming of age story” in which the actor Matthew
Modine plays a high school senior who wants to do something spectacular before he
graduates. He decides to drop two weight
classes in order to wrestle the legendary opponent from another school.
My husband told me he tried to do the very same thing. He asked his mother, “Tell me to stop.” Which
she did and he dropped out of wrestling.
Throw in a love interest, and a singer at the bar (Madonna)
who performs “Crazy for you” and “Gamble”.
How good is this movie?
Well, it has been 28 years since we saw the movie, and I still remember
it.
This has been a full year for me, a crazy twelve months. From this time in 2010 to now, it seems that parts of me have been torn and scattered across the country.
My mother's final year was one that cut me up inside. She died April 2011.
Since then, I have been trying to find myself, and reassemble all the pieces that went missing during that year. While not complete, I believe we are nearly there.
We’d better get busy on finishing, though, because I have a big, and I mean huge, birthday coming up: 6-0.
Sixty! When I was young, people who were sixty were nearing the end of their lives. Sixty was old, really old.
Now? Look at all the celebrities who sixty and older:
Betty White, 89…Clint Eastwood, 80…Carol Burnett, 78…Sean Connery, 81…Jane Fonda,74…Susan Sarandon, 65…Meryl Streep, 60…Barbara Streisand, 69… They are still alive, working, affecting society, looking good.
Well, okay, we can presuppose that there might have been some assistance in the ‘looking good’ department.
The celebrity whose age parallels mine is ELVIRA, Mistress of the Dark! Yes, she too is 60 years old. Somehow, this means a lot to me.
Which finally brings this to the real news: my husband John, daughter Erin, son John4, daughter Mary & husband Richard, and I are having a pre-birthday gathering at this very moment in Washington, DC.
We are rejoicing, celebrating, hootin’ and hollerin’ about my 60th birthday. ( My son-in-law is staying home with Sunshine and Bright Eyes, who will get in on the actual birthday in December.)
But, the point is that the defining factor in one’s life is not the age.
What is the defining factor? When I find that one out, I will certainly let you know. I have a feeling there is more than one involved.
One would think that a girl living on a farm, surrounded with procreating animals followed later by animals giving birth would have a down-to-earth understanding of sex and how things work. I believe that is what normally should happen. However, on my father’s farm, my sister and I were kept away from all the “action”. Why, I don’t know. I think the whole sex thing embarrassed my dad, and he preferred that animals copulating remain a mystery.
Words fail me.
Even so, there are hormones that won’t be denied. While I didn’t comprehend the how and where of sex, I sure understood that I wanted to know. There was something that went beyond just smiling and gazing at the boys, but I just didn’t have a clue what that was. I knew that when Dr. Kildare was on TV, both my mother and I sat down and paid attention to every word he said. While I was in this beginning stage of yearning for that unspoken action, I watched “The Ten Commandments” on television.
No, it wasn’t Charleton Heston who pulled me in through the television screen. It was Yul Brynner.
I can not explain it to you, but something about the intensity of his eyes, the seductive prowling walk, the powerful exotic voice, and the commanding dominating presence…the way his hands reached for the woman, and how his mouth devoured…whew, is it hot in here or is it just me??
Yes, my King! Whatever you say!
Since those beginning yearning/lustful stirrings, I obsessed on all things-Yul Brynner. Any movie that had his name in the credits, any newspaper or magazine cutting, or even other bald headed men (except for Telly Savalas), I was hooked. This obsession continued throughout my life, I confess.
In 1975, when I was eight months pregnant with our first child, my husband and I went to see Yul Brynner (sigh) performing in “The Odyssey” in Los Angeles. All during the performance, while having Braxton-Hicks contractions, I kept my eyes glued on him.
Years later, in October 1984, we sat in orchestra row 5, seats D and E, where we watched a matinee performance of “The King and I” in Hollywood. We were sooo close to the stage; I could make out every detail of his face, the ripple of muscles in his arms, the…oh, my. Turn on the fan, somebody.
The Magnificent Seven
Even though Yul Brynner died on October 10, 1985, and I am a grandmother, I still watch his movies and sigh at the enigmatic sexual power he possessed. I wonder if all people have an iconic figure that is integral in the coming of age awareness which happens with hormones. Hmmm…I will ask around… Thanks to the A-Z Blogfest team, who have bravely taken on the month of April! Go to the link below to check out other blogs! http://tossingitout.blogspot.com
