August 5th 1962

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. 46 years ago she was taken from the world. As I told you in my earlier blog my love affair with Marilyn began when I was in the 11th grade and still continues today. I wanted to share with you a very special moment, a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Back in October of 1999, Christie's Auction house was set to auction off Marilyn Monroe's possessions. For a limited time they opened it up to the public for viewing, I of course could not have missed this. So I set up a trip with some friends, who had already visited the auction house, and we were on our way to NYC.

As we approached the auction house I could feel myself getting very nervous. I was about to see and possibly feel most of Marilyn's possessions. I broke down in tears as we entered the auction house. I was surrounded by Marilyn, her voice was playing softly in the background and her items we laid out for the world to admire. Since we got there very early there wasn't many people in the place, which was nice because I could take my time gazing at all the items.

As we approached a jewelry case, there was a women with white gloves standing behind it. I looked down and saw the wedding band that was given to Marilyn by Joe DiMaggio. One diamond was missing. Since there was no one there yet, I asked the white gloved woman if she could take it out of the case, she could see the excitement in my eyes, and very carefully she took it out of the case. I stared at it for a good 5 minutes. Trying to imagine it on Marilyn's ring finger.

I moved on, next was the piano that was her mothers, a white baby grand. It was purchased by Mariah Carey for a cool $500,000. I wondered all over the place trying to imagine how Marilyn brushed her hair, how she sat on her couches, and the books. She was quite the reader, there was a whole room full of books. However my friends that I was with said that they wanted to save the best for last.

As we approached a room in the back of the auction house, I was told to keep my eyes shut. Nervously I was brought to a room, that seemed very dark. I didn't want to peek, so I kept my eyes shut. I was put into position, and then told to open my eyes.

There it was...the "Happy Birthday Mr. President" dress. Floating in mid-air. Lights shining, it was completely see-thru. I fell to the ground and started to cry. There were security guards all over the place and one ran over to me and pulled me up and asked me if I was ok. I was shaking, I told him I was fine, just a huge fan. He laughed at me and gave me a smile.

I approached the dress and just stared at it. She was in this dress, she was sewn into this dress. She may have only worn it for a few minutes, but that dress is a part of history and I was able to experience it.

I will never forget that experience, not for the rest of my life. I was able to experience Marilyn, and not many people can say that.

So on the anniversay of her death, lets remember Marilyn for who she was. A real person with a dream. Her dream came true, but ended much too soon.