Scene set: 19xx, living room, green carpet
Little Eva, looking bored, but watching television.
Enter Mom.
"I'm bored," said little Eva.
Mom changes the channel. "Here, watch this show. You'll love it!"
It's funny how I can see that scene from xx years ago.
I was hooked from that moment. My life had changed. I was mesmerized by that show. That funny lady on TV.
I know that I was 7 years old because that's when I began collecting. I would cut out little snipets about the show in the TV guide and glue it on notebook paper. The first scrapbook I ever made - tanish in color. I'd search through all kinds of magazines looking for anything I could find about Lucille Ball.
I have the original clippings from Vivian Vance's first announcement of dying. I believe those articles were from the National Enquirer. From there, I began collecting books about Lucille and the show. My favorite was the one by Bart Andrews.
I remember setting my clock to 3:30 or 4:30 because back in the day, the reruns would come on two different stations. And yes, I would tape them on a tape recorder.
When I was in 7th grade, I joined the band and played the saxophone of course. I couldn't wait to play "Glow Worm."
As I got older I could buy my own things. Before I knew it, I had to buy a curio cabinet that would hold my Lucy stuff. I have the original Hamilton collection plates and dolls, TV Guides, magazines, etc.
My favorite item out of all my collection would have to be Lucille Ball's shoes. I got those thanks to one of my awesome friends, Glen. We were at the 2000 Loving Lucy convention in Burbank. The auction was going on and I knew that it was the year that I would own something of her's. The guy brought out the beautiful black shoes and I began bidding. Well, someone decided to bid on those shoes, too! Glen knew how badly I wanted those shoes, so when I stopped at a certain price, he began bidding. And I won! That was the best day ever. I actually had a pair of Lucy's shoes. Shoes she wore. I never wanted to take those gorgeous shoes off my feet. To think, Lucy walked in these shoes!! Thanks, Glen.
When I got home, I searched and searched to see if I could find a picture of her in those shoes. Low and behold, I have an 8 x 10 of her dancing with George Burns and she's wearing the shoes! To top that, I have that episode, so I could watch her dance around in MY shoes. I got married in those shoes as I marched down the aisle to the "Lucy" theme song.
I've made so many good friends from going to the conventions in Burbank and Jamestown. Even though I haven't seen them in over 10 years, we still keep in close contact. Mike, Glen, Eve, Breck, Terra, Liz, Sherry, Melanie, Patrick, Lynne, Laura, Cathy, and so many more I've not met personally, but have "met" online.
I'm proud to say that I've turned my love of Lucy into something good. My friend, Martha, and I do a Lucy/Ethel skit for nursing homes or churches.
My top 3 episodes:
The Dancing Star
Lucy Is Envious
Tennessee Bound
I could keep going, but need to narrow to the top 3. There's so many more! Aye ai ai.
Lucille Ball movies:
"A Girl, A Guy, and a Gob"
"Dance, Girl, Dance"
"Mame"
I'm a Lucille Ban fan and proud of it!
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