My fascination with modeling started with the Katy Keene comic books.

Incase you don't know Katy Keene, here's the scoop from Wikipedia "Katy Keene is a model known as the "Pin-Up Queen", and her comics encouraged readers to send in original drawings of unique cars and boats for her and her friends, house trailers and rockets, as well as accessories and outfits for her to wear. These designs were used in the comics with credit given to the submitters. She appeared in various anthology comic series in the 1940s, eventually getting her own short-lived comic."

I absolutely loved Katy and would spend hours designing clothes for her to wear. I had notebooks full of drawings. I even thought that when I grew up I would "want to be" a fashion designer and design beautiful clothes for models like Katy Keene.

In Jr. High I took Home Economics so I could learn to sew and make my own clothes. We even had a fashion show for our moms where we got to model our aprons! Watch out Katy Keene!

Then, when I was 14 the old Bon Marche (now Macys) had a HIGH SCHOOL TEEN BOARD. WOW, I thought, I "want to be" on this board. They had weekly Saturday events where local teen musicians would perform, the cosmetic ladies would give beauty advice and best of all there were fashion shows where the teens on the BOARD got to be models. Alas, I tried out but wasn't chosen.

Oh well, back to "I want to be a fashion designer". In college, at the University of Washington, I decided to major in Home Economics with a concentration in Design (they don't even have that major any longer). I loved creating and sewing those wild, crazy tent dresses, mini skirts, and pant suits (out of polyester)! I still remember the psychedelic colors! OMG.imagine that I even wore the clothes! Did I mention this was the 60's?

But then reality hit, big time, with the Vietnam War, the fact that life was more than fashion. I was right in the middle of this "wake up and look at what is happening in the world", and all of a sudden my little dream was insignificant to what was happening in our world. Everybody I knew was either going to war, joining the Peace Core, or changing their major to Sociology. So I made a switch too. But, I took a different path I became a teacher. My goal was to make a difference, one child at a time, because children are the only hope for the future!

I started teaching in 1968. I still designed and made all my own clothes but I was no Katy Keene. I was a fifth grade teacher with a mission of making sure that every child in my class knew that they were special and unique and could also make our world a better place.

The rest of the story...I got married, had three amazing sons (DARN, no girls to sew cute clothes for), divorced (after 25 years), remarried and was blessed with a gorgeous step-daughter and incredible step-son, now have 3 grandsons (still no girls to sew cute clothes for), survived cancer, got fat, etc. etc. I'm sure this is where my story will match the stories of all your other letters. I know this because we all seem to face the same challenges.

UPDATE: Within the last year, I've lost 50 pounds. Attached are two pictures of me...one taken Oct. 2005, one taken Oct. 2006. Yeah! I'm very proud of this...they say 60 is the new 40, right? Oh, by the way, I lost the weight... not by surgery, joining a club, hypnosis, or paying anybody any money...but by changing my attitude about me and just doing it. I'm still teaching (now second grade), I'm still sewing, and I secretly still "want to be" like Katy Keene!

So, please choose me to be one of your models. It would be so fun.

Hugs, Marie Easley