I just learned that Shirley Temple Black passed away. I felt sad because the world lost a beautiful woman and glad because everything I needed to learn in life about making a great first impression, I learned from Shirley.
First impressions begin with outward appearance.
My parents were children of the Depression and they encouraged my sisters and I to watch all the old Shirley Temple movies. The first impression I got of Shirley was her curls! I understand her mother worked hard on giving Shirley that curly look by using 56 pin curls every night before she went to bed. My mother used rags. She would take the old bed sheets and strip them into long wide sections. After getting my hair washed, my mother would grasp a section of my hair near the ends between her fingers and tightly wrap the hair up towards the scalp into what looked like a sausage; then she tied the ends together. The end result was a head full of sausages dangling off my head. In the morning I unwrapped the rags and if my hair was dry, I had curls like Shirley! First impressions begin with outward appearance.... but then I learned there was a lot more to a person's looks.
Treating others the way you want to be treated has educational value.
Shirley played nice with others, and when it came to adults, she did not disparage good manners. I really liked the movie, The Little Colonel with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. I wanted to tap and dance like Shirley. She was well disciplined and taught me that learning new skills was fun and rewarding! Growing up in the 60's there was civil unrest and discrimination was out of control; yet when I watched how Shirley interacted with adults and people of another race, I wanted to be like Shirley and not the adults of my parents generation who were at civil war. Treating others the way you want to be treated has educational value. Judging others by the color of their skin is wrong.
You Reap What You Sow
In the movie Heidi, she inspired me to visit Switzerland some day, to climb mountains, make new friends, and respect the elderly. I also learned that not everyone is born into a loving, kind, rich family but if you know the difference between right and wrong, you make friends at an early age and connect with people respectfully, it doesn't matter where you were born but how you live that really makes a difference. Heidi was an inspiration to me. She motivated me to want more good things in life not because of money, but because of how you treat others. You reap what you sow.
Stand Up to Adversity
Wee Willie Winkie was a different type of movie because it involved participation in war activities with Shirley's grandfather, the British Army Colonel. As children we are exposed to many different reality shows and life experiences. Some are very realistic; others are not but if one thing is true, impressions are made on children at a very early age. I wonder if it was this movie that caused Shirley to get into politics? I know watching Wee Willie Winkie while the Viet Nam War was in full swing made a BIG impression on me! My favorite songs growing up were:
1) To Dream the Impossible Dream
2) Let There Be Peace On Earth
3) Silent Night
In the movie Wee Willie Winkie, Shirley encouraged me to stand up to adversity, do the right thing, and to put family first. It has been written throughout Shirley's existence that Shirley was a great inspiration for optimism during war time. Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt acknowledged, As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.
May Shirley Temple Black's legacy live on to inspire everyone around the world to live in peace.
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