HAPPY 101ST BIRTHDAY, LUCY!

Whenever they were in the Bay Area, she (Lucy) and Harriet, who was not only her maid but her gin rummy partner and confidante, visited Harriet’s best friend, Dot. Knowing Lucille loved barbecue, Dot bought ribs, and they all sat in the kitchen eating them. “I kept staring at this beautiful lady eating messy ribs,” said Dot’s daughter, Barbara, who was ten at the time. “Lucille loved children and she always treated me like a princess. She had her dressmaker make me pinafores and she sent socks to match. My mother was afraid I would be spoiled rotten, and I was. Lucille made people feel important in her company, because if she liked you, she loved you.” 

The little girl delighted in seeing how silly Lucille and her aunt Harriet behaved together. “They tried on hats with feathers and veils and pranced around like college kids.” Harriet and Dot reminisced about being dancers together, and Lucille chimed in with tales of her Goldwyn Girl days. “The three of them would have a couple of drinks, then push the furniture back and form a chorus line, laughing and giggling and dancing,” Barbara recalled.

Happy 101st Birthday, Miss Lucille Ball!

6 AUGUST 2012

It's 12am Singapore time, and I'll like to wish my idol, my companion, my loveliest woman a happy birthday!

Today marks the 101st year since a great woman was brought into this world. I remember vividly how I've written a post on her death anniversary, which seems like yesterday. In just a blink of an eye, 26 April jumped to 6 August, indicating that Lucy's physical traces are further and further away from us.

However, this also means that my affair with her has grown! In fact, our first anniversary will be arriving mid August- that's when my American Pluralism instructor introduced me to this wonderful comedian and actress.

Lucille's comedic talent, determination and optimism have been instrumental in helping me cope with my life. In all honesty, my life is tumultuous and full of myriads of moments where I inevitably face terrible misfortunes. Sometimes, I cave into periods of self-pitying, but since Miss Lucille Ball became my role model, I find these moments becoming fleeting and brief. Before and after a battle, I would habitually watch an episode of I Love Lucy, or if time allows, I would watch an old black and white movie of hers. Miraculously, I would find my mood improving tenfold!

Just like how Lucy looked up to Carole Lombard as her inspiration, I do look up to Lucy whenever I face problems. Even dead for 23 years, Lucy never failed to help me sharpen my perspectives- on love, on life, on anything under the sun. I plan to be visiting her grave in Jamestown, New York, with my best friend and closest friends in 2014, and I wish with all my heart that this dream will come true.

Lucy was a complicated person when alive. I can really relate to her in this way because people around me call me Miss Complicated. Most of the time, I think and do things where outsiders would not understand, nor do they care to, and only those loved ones who are really emotionally synchronized with me will really know the real me, stripped of all facades and layers. I hate to have to explain myself to others, because I will feel awfully exposed, vulnerable and weak. Nonetheless, I have a tendency to read people because I know how horrible it is not to be read, or to be misread.

I find it therapeutic whenever I read Lucy. I can safely say that I'm one of the top 10 people in the world outside her family who knows Lucy well. It is a pleasure to answer readers' and followers' questions like "was Lucy rude towards air stewardesses?" and "I heard Lucy was a bitch to work with, is that true?" and "did Lucy get over her divorce?" and "why did Lucy feel an estrangement towards her children?" and so on. Miss Ball had been misunderstood by people who have been fed by gossips. Additionally, the strong and mighty Lucy never put the misconceptions to sleep while alive. Having done an extensive amount of research, I take it upon myself to set the record straight.

If only I was this obsessed with my studies, I would have been Albert Einstein's apprentice. Ha!

I love you, Lucy!
Happy 101st birthday, and I sincerely hope that just like how Ricky and Lucy Ricardo would end a story happily, Desi Arnaz and you are holding hands in heaven and smiling down at me.