When I heard about her death the other day I was saddened, but it also brought a lot of wonderful memories. and those memories are still dancing in my head. She was the perfect girlfriend of every boy who ever dreamed of falling in love for the first time, hoping to be on the receiving end of a first kiss, a kiss from Annette Funicello. It was just the kiss and nothing more, and would be the defining moment of what was refered to as "puppy love".
Annette Funicello set a standard for young women in America that for the most part seems to have disappeared, or perhaps it could be said, the bar has been lowered too much. We seem to have gone from Annette Funicello to Lindsay Lohan, what a drop. Worse yet, we have gone from 'Leave It To Beaver' to 'Beavis and Butthead'; and beyond. Maybe some day very soon a new Annette will show up, raise the bar to where it should be, and give puppy love a second chance. This may sound 'old fashioned' to many people who read this, but it is not. What will never be old fashioned is an America where teenage girls begin living a life of good moral values, leading the way for future generations of teen girls to understand that being a young woman with high standards is just what is needed in America today.
Walt Disney did us all a huge favor when he hand picked Annette first out of about 200 other girls, and somehow I wonder if he saw something special in this tender sweet 12 year old that no one else would have seen. I would bet that he did.
Thanks Walt.
Good bye Annette, sleep in heavenly peace.
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