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When Mom Took Me To See The Monkey Lady

I was thinking today about one time when I was little and our mum took us to the carnival. This was, to my knowledge, the last time a REAL carnival, complete with sideshows, was ever in Steubenville. I was maybe 6 or 7 yrs old. This was back when the annual carnival would set up down along the side of the old Mr. Wigg's store down in Hollywood Plaza. They had all the usual rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl and The Octopus (which may be the root cause of my acrophobia - once while riding it with my aunt, my shoe came off and hit some guy in the head!) , fried junk food, and games of chance (our brother Bill always excelled at these!)...but what caught my attention was the sideshow.

I remember they had a "mummy" on exhibit (which even to my childish mind looked fake!), a Fiji mermaid (which looked to me like someone sewed a dead monkey to a fish!), a few display cases with embalmed 2 headed critters, and LIVE IN PERSON, The Monkey Lady.

I was mesmerized by her "performance"...which wasn't so much of a performance as her standing around and telling her life story. She invited people to come up and tug on her fur to see if it was real. I was one of the lucky participants who got to do this! At the time, she looked ancient to me...but in reality was probably only in her 60s. Not a youthful 60 but a hard-lived 60. She seemed pleasant enough and not at all scary. She just looked like a very hairy black lady. Regardless, she had the charisma of a seasoned entertainer and drew a big crowd.

Sadly, the sideshows were already waining in popularity and some folks thought that it was wrong to exploit those with physical abnormalities as "freaks". I've only ever seen two sideshows with real live "freaks". The second time was at a small town festival in rural Ohio in the late 80s. It was nowhere near as memorable as The Monkey Lady was.

I remember pestering my mom and dad for days after that show. Dad, being a doctor, tried to explain to me her condition called hypertrychosis. Mom, always more bohemian, explained that regardless of her physical appearance, The Monkey Lady was just a normal person like anyone else, who just happened to have a lot more hair than most. Mom also pointed out how lucky she was to be in show business. She explained that The Monkey Lady made her living by traveling the country and making people happy. That was my mum...always the eternal optimist.

Over the years, I took what my mum told me to heart. I've now been an entertainer for 33 years. I've been fortunate enough to have played for tens of thousands of people the world over. I've done over 3,000 shows. I like to think that I make people happy when I perform.

Today is 33 years since we lost our mom. Never does a day go by that I don't think about her. I can still hear her voice and especially her laugh. She taught me a lot of things in her all too brief life. She taught me to look for the good in all people. She taught me the joys of music and art. She taught me that cooking can be fun and creative. Sadly, my mum never got to see me play a show. My first rock and roll show was about 6 months after she passed. I think about her every time I step onstage.

I have lots of wonderful memories. I lost a lot of them when I was in a coma ten years ago. I've been lucky that large portions of my brain have remapped since the brain damage. I'm thankful for the mother I had and the memories that I still have of her.

Thanks Mom, for taking me to see The Monkey Lady when I was a kid. I still remember it 40 years later and still remember you teaching me to look for the positive in all people and situations. I love and miss you.

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