My First 56 Years

On August 16 1977 we were living all cozy and comfortable in our little house in Denton, Kansas. Charles was sleeping after working all night at A&P.I was doing various housework and watching television when a broadcast came over and said ELVIS PRESLEY DIES AT AGE 42.I knew how much Charles and his best friend Lester had idolized The King of Rock-in-roll. I was a Beatle fan myself. My sisters Mary Ann and Kathryn also had posters up in the bedroom at rte 116 of Elvis. I was young then only five years old. About the time we moved to rte 116 Elvis had joined the Army and not much was said about him that my young mind remembers. As I got older the "British Invasion" took over and I was crazy about the Beatles. Floy Mae was crazy about them too. My mother's sister, Phylena who lived in Utah sent Floy Mae a Ringo Starr doll. Ringo was her favorite. We watched the Ed Sullivan Show when the Beatles came to America in February of 1964 much to Daddy's chagrin. We screamed and cried and made Daddy nervous so he went to bed.
When I heard the news about Elvis I went into the bedroom to wake Charles up to give him the news.Groggy and unfocused he asked me several times what I had said to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It was a sad day and although I hadn't really given Elvis much thought I started to miss his music. They played everything he had ever sung from the fifties on. Everyone turned their car lights on and listened to melancholy verses of Kentucky Rain etc. It was hard to keep a dry eye .I started remembering a few of his movies.The few I hadn't seen. Between the ages of five and ten I just thought there was too much singing and not enough plot. Most people just wanted to look at him and ooh and ahh over his good looks. Charles was mostly interested in the girls, Ann Margaret, to name one. Every radio station played his music and the news broadcasts were all on every TV station. The more I listened, the more of an Elvis fan I became but it was too late, Elvis was gone.
Another favorite we watched on TV was Charley's Angels! We both loved Farrah Fawcett. Her hair was just so messed up all the time and it was beautiful. We knew she was married to the Six Million Dollar Man in real life. How great would that be to be so rich and gorgeous? We bought the "rug" with Farrah's famous bathing suit poster on it. If you rubbed it back and forth her hair would do a little dance!
We started watching baseball games.Kansas City Royals had a good team and they were winning a lot of ballgames. I remember there was a contest to name the ball team. They had previously been called the Kansas City A's or Athletics. I’m not sure now. People wrote in and gave their thoughts and opinions on what the name should be and at the end of the contest the Kansas City Royals were born. The Kansas City A's became the Oakland A's or Athletics. We’d sit around Sundays and watch the games.
On Saturday nights I watched the Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Love Boat. Fantasy Island was a favorite as well. The Bob Newhart show, the first one with “Emily” and “Howard” the airline pilot. Those shows kept me occupied at night when it was just Jenny and me. I’d always watch the ten o’clock news and go to bed.