The morning is a bit chillier than yesterday’s but is just as pretty. The sun makes all the difference. Every morning now seems to take me a bit longer to retrieve the papers because I stop to admire my front garden. I forgot how many bulbs were planted last fall so the garden is a gift, a present, filled with color and all sorts of spring flowers which delight me. The pink and the purple hyacinths are in bloom and the yellow daffodils are by the front steps.

I had an early meeting this morning, my library board. I actually woke up before the alarm, set for 8, because I was cold. I had left the window open all night, and it got chilly. Gracie was huddled beside me on one side and Fern on the other. I grabbed the blankets to try to go back to sleep but decided I might as well get up. It was close anyway. To think I used to get up at 5 or 5:15 and here I am complaining about 8.

Annette died. I read it first on Facebook and today there was a huge obituary in the paper. She was 70 and had been suffering from MS for years. I can still see Annette in her tutu and ballet slippers dancing on the Mouseketeer stage. She was, for many boys, their first crush. For us, she was the girl we wanted as a friend because we knew she’d never let us down. She was too good for that. Annette was perfect. She was quiet, polite and wholesome, even on the beach with Frankie Avalon.

Every afternoon I had the same ritual. Come home from school, change into play clothes, go out for a bit then come in and watch Superman and The Mickey Mouse Club. I sang along with the opening Mickey Mouse Club March and with the songs for the days of the week. I never missed Spin and Marty or the Hardy Boys. I thought Cubby and Karen were cute. No boys had the same reaction on me that Annette had on every prepubescent boy watching the show. Even now, after all these years, I remember most of the songs and MICKEY MOUSE comes easily and I always remember to add Donald Duck. I used to love it when he’d put the cymbals on his ears. The end theme was a heart tugger. We were family saying good-bye but happily we’d see each other real soon.