[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1953
EC's Life is Still Glee in '53!

Can you believe it?... EC is 13 years old... yep, I was born in April, 1940... I have suddenly become a teenager... YIP-PEE-KAH-OH-KAY-YAY... that's right, pilgrim, a rootin', tootin' born-again teenager... but you know, I don't feel any different... although, come to think of it, maybe my taste in movies has changed a little bit... I must admit that I have gone to a lot more movies in recent months where the guys are kissing the gals a lot more than their hosses... could EC have entered into puberty?... uh oh, that's sounds serious... can holding hands, hugging and kissing girls be fatal to a teenager?... can puberty be fatal?... never had a talk yet with any pertinent adults about those ever-lovin' birds and the birds... I never knew "things about things" at age 13... no adult wants to talk about that embarrassing subject with kids... and there ain't no way you would ask your mama, dad or your friends about the birds and the bees... that wouldn't be cool... so I guess I will have to fake it for a while and learn as I go along... yeah, that's what I will do... learn as I go along... practice will make perfect... I suppose ignorance is bliss and not embarrassing... at this point in my life, I did not have any serious primal urges that I was aware of... at age 13, to be quite frank and honest, I was still a virgin... yeah, still a virgin at age 13... how about that, pilgrim?... but even I didn't know it ... or was EC really concerned about it.

Really had a treat for my 13th birthday... no, no, no, not that... I know what all you folks are thinking, but I kept my virginity intact, whatever that was.

My Mama took me, my baby sister, my Aunt Bonnie and my cousins to Trowbridge's on Court Street in Florence for real homemade ice cream, hot dogs and hamburgers... EC got his favorite, a chicken salad sandwich with a cherry vanilla coke... and I finished off the scruptuous meal off with the bestest dessert in the whole wide world... I got orange pineapple ice cream with tiny bits of oranges and pineapples in it... umm... umm... umm... that was... and still is... the absolute best ice cream that has ever grace ye olde esophagus in the whole wide USA, bar none... Trowbridge's is still in business... but they don't make their own ice cream anymore... warning: they don't put pieces of orange and pineapple in it anymore, but it is still very good... the hamburgers and shakes are still delicious.

Afterwards we went to see a movie she and my Aunt Bonnie wanted to see at the Shoals Theatre... "How To Marry A Millionaire", starring the biggest movie star of the 40s, Betty Grable... and the biggest movie star of the 50s, Marilyn Monroe... they had guys in it, too... Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell and David Wayne... none of them were major stars, but had good Hollywood careers.

Take a gander at Miss Grable, the most popular pin-up girl in World War II... and Miss Monroe, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio's favorite lady... after her death for 20 years he had red roses delivered three times a week to her grave... his last words on his death bed supposedly were, "I'll get to see Marilyn again"... EC wants you to know those words may not have been his exact last words perzackly according to his brother Dominic DiMaggio, fine center fielder for the Boston Red Sox... but they sure did sound good to my ears... Joe really loved her... he didn't allow any no-account Kennedys or Hollywood people at her funeral... Joe thought they mistreated and took advantage of Marilyn... methinks, me thinks like Joltin' Joe.