In my teen years my girlfriends & I obsessed over so many of the young heart-throbs, but we also liked guys in rock bands, one band especially liked was KISS. We waited downtown all morning on a Saturday, waiting for them to come out of their hotel room, and when they did, we had our camera & pens ready for them to sign our pictures....but alas, they came out without makeup on (before the unmasking of later years) and each rocker had a gal on each arm...we were told sternly by the body-guards, no pictures or we'll break your camera, yet when we offered up our pictures & pens for them to sign, sorry, too busy, and they got in their limo & drove away. I promptly gave away all my KISS records & vowed never, ever to go to one of their concerts. Now when I see Gene Simmonds on TV with his own show I also refuse to watch it....I guess they really, really let us kids down way back then, but I imagine there's still some fans who will still buy into their whole sctick still....but not me.
And They Called It 'Puppy Love' ...
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"Young love is a powerful emotion; so powerful that I held a screaming tirade at my brother one afternoon years ago when I thought he was deliberately trying to ruin my Elijah posters hanging in my room. You see, they were starting to fade ... Later that night I realized I had yelled at my brother for no reason. Of course a poster is going to fade when you kiss it goodnight every night for months!
"During the years of my crush, like so many other avid fans, I decided to write Elijah a fan letter. A few weeks after the first letter was sent, I received an autographed black-and-white photo of Elijah. At first I was so ecstatic, but then the thoughts began to kick in of, 'Did he really sign this, or was it just pre-printed?' I was determined to find out. I searched through my stack of magazines until I found a picture of him that I thought was suitable for mailing. I cut it out and sent it with a new letter carefully writing on the back of the cut-out, 'Could you please sign this picture and send it back to me?' Would you believe I got it back? The exact photo I had mailed in was signed 'Keep smiling, Elijah Wood' written in gold ink."
Nobody Got Hurt
By B.E. Ashe
"My friend Nancy and I used to play [Bobby Sherman TV series] 'Here Come the Brides' at recess. We would make up story lines and act them out, sometimes getting into fights about who got to be with Jeremy (Bobby Sherman's character) and who would give the prissy little Candy (his girlfriend) what for. I'm chuckling out loud right now thinking about it. And of course Jeremy was such a sympathetic character with his painful shyness and his stuttering. The oldest brother, Jason, frightened me a bit. He was too strong and capable. But Jeremy was like me, a little bit of an outcast, shy, socially backward, often the brunt of jokes. Sitting here now, I don't remember if the character actually was that way in the series or not, but that is how I remember it. I related and I wanted to help, to be a part of it. So did Nancy, I think. Interestingly, the story line I remember most is someone, usually Jeremy, was hurt and we took care of that person. Both Nancy and I went on to become RNs.
"We couldn't really see all of this as fifth- and sixth-graders but I see it now clearly. That's the attraction of these young men to the younger girls. They're safe. They can try out more grown-up feelings on someone and know that they won't be hurt. Thank you, Bobby Sherman, for giving me a smile to say goodnight to every night and providing me with a fantasy world. And thank you, Tiger Beat, for realizing what was in the hearts of young girls. And thank you, Mom, for not having a fit about all of the scotch tape on the walls of my room."
Like Losing a Friend
By Karen Anderson
"In elementary school and junior high, I had terrible crushes on Jon and Joey from New Kids on the Block, but sadly I got no response when I worked up the courage to send a fan letter to Joey with a little beaded ring I made him to match his eyes. My stomach flipped every day for months when I'd rush to the mailbox after school each day to see if I'd gotten the reply I just knew would come. It never did, and the sight of an empty mailbox made my heart sink a little.
"In high school, when I was at my grunge-inspired dreariest, I wrote to Gavin Rossdale of Bush and told him much their music meant to me and how it got me through each day, how I skipped my junior prom to go see them live, and how one of their songs was the first thing I learned to play on guitar. I was sure he'd be touched by my bared soul but if he was, he neglected to let me know.
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