April 28, 2015

36 years, 2 months and 4 days. That's how old I am today. Incidentally, that's also how old Marilyn Monroe was on the day she died. People who know me well, know that I’m a HUGE fan. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve loved old movies since high school, or that we’re both blond, or that I could always identify with some lonely quality in her face or because she always seemed to be in the process of “becoming” herself … and 20 years ago, so was I. Regardless, it feels strange ... to reach this age. To mark the occasion, I decided to LEAP out of my comfort zone. Nathan (my love, and a GENIUS with a camera) and I decided to recreate the Milton Greene/Marilyn Monroe Red Sweater sitting. (which you can Google, although, unlike Marilyn, I DID wear a 2-piece swimsuit underneath). This was nerve-wracking for me. (I won’t say there wasn’t a bottle of wine involved…) But also so, so FUN! It’s always fun to remember our “icons” of old: the singers, writers, actors or artists that shaped our consciousness as we matured into the people we would become. We may not admire everything about them, but, in point of fact, we don’t have to. So here is my salute to the passing of a phase in my life … as I move forward into a middle age that Marilyn never knew. It made me feel goofy, and self-conscious, and weird, and yet wonderful. All of which was good for me. “After all, we should all start to live, before we get old.” (M. Monroe) photos ©Nathan B. Harrmann