When I was young,
television was only on a few hours in the morning and a few in the
evening. My grandmother used to be an
avid tv watcher and I would sit at her feet, enthralled with this new addition
to our household. One of the things we
really enjoyed watching was The Mickey Mouse Club.
In those years, the
Mousketeers would perform skits, Spin and Marty and The Hardy Boys would have a
segment and usually a cartoon. It was a
great thing for my generation and one we look back on fondly.
Annette Funicello
was one of the first Mousketeers that I remember. All the little girls wanted to be like her
and all the boys had a crush on her. As
she grew older, this was reinforced on both sides because of her beauty and
charm.
Those of us with MS
began to think of her in a different light a few years ago when she was one of
the first “stars” to make known that she had this disease and what it was doing
to her mind and body. She filmed quite a
few segments that showed her progression with this disease and filmed numerous
spots trying to ask for money to aid in the quest for a cure. She became even more dear to those of us who were fighting the battle with her.
I have a cousin who
lives in California. She worked in the Safeway
HR office in Fremont. In 1989, Annette
was there to talk to the company officials about some commercials she planned
to do for Armandino frozen foods. She brought some photos with her and autographed them for everyone.
My cousin says that
she was very friendly and chatted with all of them while she signed the
photos. She recalls that Annette was
very tiny and thin but had not told the public yet that she was battling MS.
She sent me a copy
of the photo she received from Annette and the following comment:
“…….I cherish the
photo of her and the memories. I would
like to say that she is a hero of mine…..keep up the fight and I will pray for
a cure, the sooner the better…..”
As one who grabs
onto anything I can to find some good in, I find that there is nothing bad I
can find about Annette. She was, indeed,
an MS hero and fought the good fight as long as she could. Although her form of MS was aggressive and
when her life ended her body had been ravaged by the disease, she never complained and always
had a smile and kind word for anyone she saw.
She was a wonderful example for those of us with MS (and anyone else) and I hope to grow more like her each
day and not give in to the pain and suffering.
I pray that one day
I will be in The Mickey Mouse Club in Heaven standing beside her. Until then, when I think of her it will
always bring a smile to my face and a warm spot in my heart.
2 comments:
Like you, I always watched the Mickey Mouse Club! I was more enthralled with Cubby and Karen, though. To be honest, I don't remember hearing about Annette and her MS, but then, before I was diagnosed, I really didn't know anything about MS. Her death saddened me, and I pray I will never be as bad as she was.
On a side note -- there's now a Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse on the Disney channel. I DVR it for my little guy.
Peace,
Muff
I always loved the Hardy Boys segments. My Daddy had most of the original Hardy Boys books and I grew up reading them instead of Nancy Drew. Most of the "kids" shows on now just don't seem the same as when I was young, but if the children like them, that is all that counts.
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