By Valerie Halla
In high school a bunch of us were asked to try on clothes at our friend’s mom’s clothing shop…boutique is a fancier term for it. We were going to model clothing to help sell more clothes for her…promote is a nicer word for “sell”. I chose a cute sporty pair of pants with a tight fitting jacket to model and the rest was history…meaning my one chance at modeling was history…ancient history. It was fun walking across our high school gym floor and pausing here and there, as the boutique owner mom spoke about my outfit on the microphone to about 500 teenagers sitting in the bleachers. The mom said she liked my walk and commented to everyone about how I strutted around with energy and panache. I was thinking, this is fun and I don’t even have to buy the clothes.
That was the extent of my modeling days. I still love clothes, dream of a job where all you do is dress up and walk with panache, but models have to be thin and no amount of panache can make me give up eating. I wear sunglasses a lot, even indoors. That’s because Hollywood movie stars wear sunglasses a lot. That’s another job…career sounds better…which left me sitting by the phone. I love movies and celebrities and watch the Oscars. I forgot to get an agent, but I still applied for jobs as extras, movie theater ushers, popcorn venders and the person who claps the clappers before scenes. The phone never rang, except for prank calls and aggressive sales people, and recordings of sales people.
My careers as a model and movie star went south, way south. It was fun to dream about being a star…celebrity, a better word, covers more options. I’m happy at this stage of my life though and when the phone rings, I’m happy to hear from one of my three loving children, husband or from a wonderful relative or friend. I gave up waiting by the phone, however, I still love wearing my Ray Bans a lot. Makes me feel nice….um, I mean cool…a way cooler word.
Those 70ish Girls 