Marilyn Monroe

It's been 50 years since Marilyn Monroe walked upon this earth.  Marilyn was never the greatest actress or the most beautiful woman, but there was something about her.  Maybe her vulnerability....her undying need to be loved that stemmed from a childhood of abandonment. Or maybe it was her ability to make us desire to watch her by the way she could get the camera to love her.  I have never been able to figure it out....never able to understand why a 9-year-old kid would watch Some Like it Hot one time and then she just could not get enough.

As a 9-year-old kid got her first poster of Marilyn from her friend Kelly.  Then this 9-year-old kid grew older all the while collecting Marilyn items. I would babysit just so she could make money to buy more Marilyn things. In 1987, the 25th anniversary of her death, many items were released commemorating Marilyn including her movies; this little girl bought all of them and even got the coveted Marilyn coffee mug.  Movies, paper dolls, books, pictures, magazines, newspapers... I had a little bit of everything.  In high school, my photo would be featured in a yearbook page showcasing the amount of Marilyn items she had.

Through the years, kids take over the tv and there is not time to watch the Marilyn movies.  Then the VCR is gone and no way to watch the VHS tapes.  It was time to sell them and go to the DVD.    All the VHS tapes were sold and I began to buy the DVDs...now only Bus Stop and There's no business like show business are all that is missing.  I am still reading Marilyn books over the years and is excited to see if maybe more books are published for the 50th.

 I never met her or saw a movie first run (or even on the big screen for that matter), but she has always been important to me.  Every year I remember her death on August 5 and think of what might have been.  What maybe Marilyn could have accomplished. Her career was really only active for about 10 years, so yes should have done so much more.  Her drug usage ruined all of that.  So if there is one thing we can learn from Marilyn it is for sure, DON'T DO DRUGS.