I Dumped Leslie Gore for Shelley Fabares

Call me a heartbreaker if you must but I was merely following my heart. In 1964 I dumped singer Leslie Gore for singer and actress Shelley Fabares. It was a tough decision and I lost sleep over it, but in the end I had to do it. I was in love with Shelley and I couldn’t pretend any longer. Those were tough days. I was nine years old and both Leslie and Shelley were in their late teens. Older women. Leslie sang on American Bandstand and Shelley was on the Donna Reed Show. Successful older women. I sent them both a letter and although I never heard from either one (very busy older successful women), I’ve always imagined Leslie was too distraught to respond and Shelley didn’t want to give up her career and move to Birmingham. They may call it puppy love but mine was of the Great Dane variety.

I’ve always wondered how emotions like love begin, especially for a young man with nine years of life experience. I didn’t have a pimple in 1964 so how could I decipher the compelling forces of attraction to the beautiful red-haired teenager on the television screen? I couldn’t. The same holds true today. I married a beautiful redhead fifteen years later and at twenty four I still couldn’t dissect the in’s and out’s of love. I knew I was in love but I couldn’t explain it. Thirty years later I can explain complex and abstract theological issues but cannot explain love. In essence, I’ve made no progress since 1964. Love has me stymied. I’m guessing it always will.

I also became a Christian in 1964. I walked the aisle (a very Baptist thing) on Easter and told a bald, chubby preacher that I was a sinner and I wanted to be baptized. I remember the compelling emotions of that day and even though I couldn’t explain them, I knew they were real. I was falling in love with God and even though it was a different type of love (there are several types spoken of in scripture), it was love and it required me to act. Today I tell people that I know God is real because I feel his presence at my emotional center. That’s a better explanation than I could have given at nine, but not by much. There are just some things in life one cannot adequately explain. Love is better demonstrated than explained. So hug someone you love. Tell them you love them. Don’t explain it, show it. And then tell God. He invented it you know!

MM (in love since 1964)