Jamie PattersonThoughts and ideas one has as a little girl tend to fade away as they slowly mature and grow into a woman.
As a little girl, I had dreams of marrying my latest Hollywood crush. Celebrity crushes seem to cross over every generation line among little girls.
Millions of young girls had pictures of Elvis Presley on their walls. They were applying lip gloss named after one of his latest song hits. Homes across the nation were filled with records of the handsome Mississippi boy. Fathers would get sick of hearing Heartbreak Hotel for the 500th time, and mothers were worried their little angels would fall for that rebel down the road with the jet black hair.
And time continued with another heart throb.
My mother said she had a crush on every single member of the boy band The Monkees. Momma laughs when she tells me she had a special crush for the one who always wore the sweater hat. I think his name was Michael or something.
And once again, time passed onto another crush.
My generation had the Teen Beat magazines that you found at every cash register at every store in the nation. From New Kids on the Block to Johnathan Taylor Thomas (who went by JTT) to even a younger version of Johnny Depp, I begged Momma to buy every magazine that my childhood crushes appeared on the cover of.
Inside those magazines, were posters you could unfold and plaster all over your room. I had sleeping bags, stationary, buttons, posters, and yes, even lip gloss similar to the girls of the 1950s who were going crazy over Elvis.
It was the same scenario only 30 years later with a different teen idol. The only difference is my generation had those 1-900 telephone lines too that you could call to personally talk to one of your crushes.
Yeah, been there, done that and got a spanking.
Now that I’m an adult, I grin to myself when I turn on the television and see little girls going crazy over Justin Beaver or whatever his name is. They literally gather in the thousands at any venue hoping to see this singer who barely looks old enough to cross the street by himself.
And yes, there are still those magazines at the checkout with all the latest teen stars grinning at you from the cover.
The cycle seems to continue, and I find myself wondering who my daughter Elsie will be drooling over when her time comes. Will it be the southern boy with hips that shake? Will it be a British folk singer? Or will it be a typical boy band member with a handband on or a ripped up denim jacket, pending his “persona” within the group?
But I have to rethink about what I said earlier about how childhood thoughts and ideas you have as a little girl tend to fade away. The concept of having a celebrity crush seems like something that would be the first to go when you get older. But does it really?
Momma still makes everyone in the room get quiet when Sean Connery appears on the television screen. My aunt still thinks she has a shot with one of the Beatles. My grandmother honestly feels Clark Gable is the most handsome man to ever walk on the face of the earth.
And even I sat with my friend the other evening ranking our celebrity crushes in the order of “cuteness.” I hate to admit but even though he is slightly balding now, I get goosebumps when I see Christian Slater on the television.
I guess the teen crushes continue well past the dreams of little girls. When Elsie is begging me to buy the latest crush magazine, I will secretly be debating on purchasing the latest television guide that has Johnny Depp on it,
In fact, one of my best friends and I are going to see his latest movie this weekend. Even though we are wives, mothers and almost in our 30s, we will be in the front row of the movie theater waiting on Mr. Depp to enter the screen.
I just hope our drool doesn’t mix with our popcorn butter.