Now that my parents are gone, I realize there were so many questions I wish I had asked them. All I have now are their letters to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of the years between when they met and their marriage.
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I loved live theater (and still do!). I saw my first Broadway show at the age of 5 and was smitten. I imagined that someday I would sing, dance and act my way to stardom.
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I don’t remember being jealous, but I went into “mooching mode” by watching other peoples’ televisions.
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He was my first crush.
Cubby O’Brian played the drums on The Mickey Mouse Club. Much to my dismay, he was always paired up with Karen*, who had pretty blonde curls. I didn’t look anything like this:
Not me. No way.
When I saw an article in the SF Chronicle about the Disney Family Museum, it jogged a pleasant memory of those early days of TV, and the way kids used to pretend we were part of the club too.
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| Me, with a crush on this guy |
Isn’t he dreamy?
The article mentions Karen and Cubby cut-out dolls….and I’m pretty sure I had some. Why else would I have her pretty little face (and his adorable one) seared into my memory?
I used to play “Karen and Cubby” with my across-the-street neighbor John when we watched “The Mickey Mouse Club” together. His house had a big rumpus room and that’s where the TV was. We had plenty of room to play and act out what the Mouseketeers were doing on the show.
The picture of Cubby (his real name is Carl, but his mom thought he looked like a bear cub — how cute is that?) today, even with glasses and without the ears, reveals a nice man who looks like he has lived a good life. And he’s still playing the drums.
I loved reading about the Mouseketeers in this article. It brought back some of the excitement of watching the show, sprawled on my tummy in front of the TV. . . dreaming about this pint-sized power couple. 
*I was sorry to learn that Karen passed away last year at age 73
