RDP Tuesday: The Bee’s Knees
Mary Louise Brooks-American Film Actress
My Grandmother and her sisters were born in the 20’s and hit the 1940’s just in time to enjoy the Big Band Era with great gusto.
Flappers were cutting edge girls to the girls in my Grandmother’s family, so following that lead I also suspect they were party girls, but they never let on. They weren’t fooling me. They were. I knew it, they knew I knew it but for some reason they wouldn’t fess up.
During the 70’s when I hit my Punk Music phase and I wore leather and played guitar and road motorcycles they thought it was cool. They were encouraging. ” Be yourself or be something else but don’t sit there and be nothing ” was the message I got.
Also a few of them could really drink men under the table and walk away from that table as sober as a Judge.
At any rate, they thought my ‘rebellious’ phase was ‘cute’ and I think they liked seeing me sort of skate along the wild side of life but the biggest take away I got from them was that they thought me and my wild friends were lightweights, compared I am assuming, to what they used to do.
I guess that streak of blazing my own path, which had started 20 odd years before I was born, was bound to leave it’s mark on me- in big ways and in small ways-
like this way:
Once I stopped by Grandma’s on the way to a concert in Seattle so that I could say ‘hi’ and show my Grandma my outfit. I don’t know remember what I was wearing but I cracked open her front door and called in for her to close her eyes.
I walked in and closed the door. Then I told her to open her eyes and I twirled around and said ” I am the Snake’s Hips Grandma…the Snake’s Hips! ”
My Grandma was standing there with a cigarette in her hand and she was smiling. Approval was stamped all over her face. ” You’re the Bees Knees Anita Marie. The Bee’s Knees “.
The next generation of women destined to be the Bee’s Knees in my family- my Granddaughter, Jemma.
Jemma Moscoso
2022
Photo A.M. Moscoso
That’s awesome to come from a generation to let you bee and give you the knees. Hat’s off to you.
My family was far from perfect or even traditional but at their heart both sides were all about being yourself- no matter what.
Sooo much better to be something like you did, than tolive the rest of your life as a carbon copy of everyone else. You rock Anita!
I think that because I grew up in such a diverse family, it was easy to sort of blaze my own path. But it wasn’t for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.