As a child growing up in a Chicago suburb in the 1940’s, my sister, Mary, and I were in awe of the wonderful world of Hollywood.
We met Frank Sinatra in person one day backstage at the Chicago Theater at the very beginning of his stardom when he was appearing there as a stage show following an ordinary movie. We wrote to all the “movie stars” for their pictures and collected them in a scrapbook. It was always very special to receive a personally autographed (with real ink!) picture from any one of them.
About 10 years ago, my husband Don and I took one of several trips with our good friends and Seven Lakes neighbors, Bob and Polly Miller. On one particular Holland American cruise, we were informed that Margaret O’Brien was on board.
We would occasionally catch glimpses of her in the dining room or in the elevator and I was certain that before we disembarked that ship I was going to meet her. I remembered so well when my mother took my sister and me to the Glencoe Theater to see Margaret in “Lost Angel.” It was the first of many her movies that I saw and loved.
In the daily morning news we received in our staterooms one of the mornings, we learned that Margaret would be doing an informal session that afternoon on “Me and My MGM Friends.”
Polly and I were there, and it was my opportunity to tell Margaret about how much I associated with her as a little girl and about how I would even imagine her as my best friend.
Her face was the same darling face I remembered so well, and I think I would have recognized her soft-spoken voice anywhere.
