Love when life was simpler
Seventy-seven-year-old Rose Looney considers herself a fan of the 1950s, and it’s not just because of her devotion to singer Dion DiMucci and all of the great talent of the Doo-Wop age.
“It was a time of innocence,” she says. “I’m sure there were things happening that we didn’t know about, but for the most part it was the greatest of times.”
She points to her music teen idols as good role models and as an example of why she defends the ’50s.
“There was no swearing on stage,” she remembers. “Men wore suits and ladies dressed up to look like ladies. We wouldn’t have imagined women coming out hardly wearing anything.”
Looney believes that the key difference between then and now was that they bore their talents instead of bearing their bodies.
“They weren’t singing about drugs; they were perfect gentlemen and had respect for the audience knowing that their fans were good people,” she said. “No one threw their underwear on the stage.”
Now a mother and grandmother, she feels the cultural slide began to happen when mothers went to work and no one was home to help with the homework and the general guidance of youngsters and teenagers.
Looney also feels that relationships between boys and girls has changed, and it affects women more than men in a lot of ways. She suggests that if girls would take their time in dating, they would get to know the man behind the date. In this way, break-ups and divorce wouldn’t be as common and the stresses of single motherhood might be avoided.
She speaks with some authority. After losing her lifetime mate of 56 years, she reminisces with clarity about how he treated her, protected her and spent his life serving her just as she served him.
Their devotion toward each other is symbolized by a Valentine’s Day card that Bill gave to her that she keeps on her bed and kisses every night.
“I still tell him that I love him and miss him,” she says. “It’s going to be a while before I can go to the places we used to go together.”
She gives singles advice that may seem simple, but can’t be argued with: “It’s love. You gotta love them with all your heart, put them first and respect them.”
She says the love for her husband prompted her to try new things.
“He liked to travel. I had never done that. He enjoyed camping and I hadn’t experienced that before,” she says. “I went for him – even with the worms and the bugs and even though I’m a city girl.”
Now, that’s love.
Robert J. LaCosta may be the longest-running-continuous interviewer of seniors in the world. His daily devotional is free. Write him at [email protected].
