Long before the book What would Jackie Do? was published in 2006 that title was my mantra. When I was a young teenager and preteen I was obsessed with Jackie Kennedy. I wanted to look like her, dress like her, know everything about her. I had a drawer full of magazines with Jackie on the cover and I became a news junkie just hoping to read or hear some news of Jackie.
No movies star, sports figure, political figure or celebrity of any kind 
captured my interest the way Jackie did. If Jackie wore big sunglasses, I wanted big sunglasses. If Jackie wore a yellow checked dress, I wanted a yellow checked dress. Jackie was a horse woman and wore beautiful riding habits. I cherished a pair of English riding boots given to me by my aunt. I even applied to Jackie's college, Vassar.
captured my interest the way Jackie did. If Jackie wore big sunglasses, I wanted big sunglasses. If Jackie wore a yellow checked dress, I wanted a yellow checked dress. Jackie was a horse woman and wore beautiful riding habits. I cherished a pair of English riding boots given to me by my aunt. I even applied to Jackie's college, Vassar.The drama and pathos of the assassination of President Kennedy
only heightened my interest. The Onassis years came when I was
in my early 20's years came and I continued to watch Jackie.
With time and age I still hold an interest in the mystique of Jackie.
A mention of Jackie on the news or a picture in a magazine can still capture my interest.
Who did you idolize when you were young?
Did That person hold your interest as you got older?
For me it was Natalie Wood. I was crazy about ALL her movies, and her life. I remember exactly where I was when I heard of her untimely death, and that only served to cement her in my mind as young and beautiful and tragic.
ReplyDeleteOh Jeanie... yes! Jackie O! She was so young, so chic. But her life wasn't all it seemed, was it? John Kennedy was assassinated the day before my fifth birthday. I remember the solemn tears and the way time seemed to stand still {hey! wait a minute! it's my birthday, you have to be happy!}. My mother bought a JFK memorial book for the coffee table and it was always open to that image of Jackie with the black veil over her face. That photo used to frighten me. And of course the still frames from the Zapruder film of Jackie crawling out the back of the limo covered in Jack's blood.
ReplyDeleteSo there are two very distinct images of Jackie. The Camelot portrait, and the woman who suffered much.
As for me... I used to idolize Barbra Streisand growing up. Her talent is still unmatched - but she can keep her obnoxious politics. Ug!
I never really idolized anyone... except maybe T Rex and David Bowie.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanie! I idolized Elizabeth Montgomery as a child. As an adult, I know it sounds sooooo corny, but during trying times I would ask myself, "What would Harry (as in Harry Potter) do?" I love the books and his character is so brave and lucky. See, told you it was corny!
ReplyDeleteMy idol is not known famously but she touched many lives. She is my maternal Grandmother who was widowed in her mid-forties. She took in welfare children who could not be places in regular families. The kids with handicaps or mental illnesses to make a living. She was a positive woman who I never heard a negative word out of her life. She was a fun lady, as a great-grandmother she would play in the sandbox and ride tricycles with my children. When my son was a tot she turned somersaults just to spark his laughter. This is the woman I want to mirror!
ReplyDeleteGod bless and have a fantastic day!!!