First Loves, Crushes and Celebrities

Do you remember your first love? How about your first crush? More aptly, do you remember your first celebrity crush? You were probably about 9 or 10 years old if Cora and I are any indication. For her it is a crush on three cute, dark haired, teenage boys known by their last name. You must know who I am talking about... right?

That's right. Cora's first crush is on three boys named Kevin, Joe and Nick. They are cute, but... well, my first love is much better. He was also cute, dark-haired and wildly popular with the pre-teen and teenage girls. The odd thing is he is now 51 and a grandfather but he is still a cute, dark-haired boy. And I love him. Yes, I know I wrote that in the present tense.

My best memories of childhood revolve around him. I papered my bedroom walls with pictures that I carefully removed from issues of Tiger Beat and 16, which I purchased with money I earned from babysitting. In the 70s that was generally between 50 cents and 1 dollar an hour. At Christmas time I would visit with cousins that I hadn't seen in months and we would argue over who was cuter: Donny Osmond, David Cassidy or Bobby Sherman. The answer, of course was Donny Osmond! Sheesh, everyone who was smart knew that!

Donny and his brothers defined an entire generation of girls which at that time we referred to as Teenyboppers. It was the 70s. It was an era hip-huggers, bell bottoms, peace sign belts and fringe reigned supreme. If something was good it was "groovy". Oh, and boys looked like... well, girls. But we didn't care. That was probably because we couldn't see. Our own hair was long, straight and parted in the middle so that it generally hung in front of our eyes. And, no we didn't constantly braid it like Marsha, Jan and Cindy on the Brady Bunch. Ok, so Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy also had great songs that made my little heart go pitter-pat. But there is no song as great for a little girl as "Puppy Love". In fact, Cora now has it on her iPod. I had it on a 45 record which I bought with $1.00 that I earned from my uncle Chuck. The technology has changed but the emotions of a little girl listening to the high, clear tones of that boy have not. Actually though I loved the songs "The Twelfth of Never" and "Sweet and Innocent" even better. I knew he was singing those songs to me. Heck, even the Ouija board said I would marry him. Talk about a shock when he married a pretty blonde girl from Utah named Debbie. What happened? He was mine.

I remember when The Osmond Brothers came in concert to Denver. I would have happily died the day after the concert if it meant I would get to go see him sing. Unfortunately a ticket to a concert was not in my family's budget, so I had to skip it.

Many years later -- 1996 to be exact -- I was living in Detroit with my husband. I was pregnant with my first child, due in the summer. I learned that Donny was touring with the Broadway show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and they would be in the city that September. I immediately purchased tickets. My parents-in-law, Greg and I would go, and I would finally see Donny live! We hired a babysitter for the first time and drove downtown to a beautiful old theatre where I looked at the marquee and it said.... starring Sam Harris. What??? I did not want to see Sam Harris. I especially did not want to see him in a loin cloth. There is nothing wrong with Sam Harris. In fact, he is a talented guy. But I was there to see Donny (in a loin cloth at that)! I enjoyed that show and that date, but it was horribly disappointing. I would have to live another 12 years for another opportunity. But last September I flew to Las Vegas met my friend Debbie there and we saw Donny & Marie put on a fantastic show. I was thrilled. And yes, he did sing "Puppy Love" and "Sweet and Innocent"! We bought the best tickets. We sat right there in the front row where I could practically reach out and touch him, and followed that up with a meet and greet. We stood in line with a bunch of other children of the 70s for our chance to shake their hands, maybe even grab a hug, and say our hellos. I knew what I wanted to say. I had it all planned out.

Debbie and I got to the front of the line and walked up to my first love. I said "hello". I do remember that. But I don't remember anything else. I was in shock, completely overcome, star struck. Debbie talked to them both sharing things about herself and complimenting them on things she had seen. She laughed, and even leaned over and kissed my love on the cheek! When our moments were over I walked away feeling exhilarated and deflated at the same time. I had not told Donny that he got me through some very tough moments in my childhood like I wanted to. I had not told him that I too suffered from anxiety. I had not told Marie that I loved her on Dancing With the Stars. Or, maybe I did. I don't remember.

A year has passed and I am ready to go again. So, what do you think? Are you interested?

So, back to Cora. Will she still love The Jonas Brothers when she is 47? Somehow I doubt it, though I know she will have good memories of childhood that center around them. But she is not completely taken with them. She doesn't spend all her allowance buying nothing but Jonas paraphernalia. Besides, the fact is that nobody else is Donny Osmond. Not Bobby Sherman or David Cassidy; not even the Jonas Brothers. They just don't make them like Donny any more, even if he is a grandfather.