HOW I STARTED FANGIRLING AUDREY HEPBURN EVEN BEFORE IT BECAME A TREND AMONG MY GENERATION

Those who knows me knows that my favorite celebrity of all time is AUDREY HEPBURN. Not the popular actress or social media biggies of these days but an actress from the 1950's. 

 

Let me tell you when I discovered Audrey Hepburn. I was 1st year high school, around 12-13 years old. We just got cable TV. Our local cable station would have one channel which they would play movies after movies before there were HBO and CINEMAX, and of course, NETFLIX came later. We often get excited what they will show on that channel. We can even request sometimes the movies they can play, much like requesting from a DJ in a radio station. Though often they would say yes but never complied to our request. My siblings and I would constantly battle for the remote control until I just gave up, giving my sister and brother (our other youngest brother was not born yet) to fight for it daily. 

 

One morning when I woke up, my brother who won the remote control battle that day (and my sister is nowhere to be found) told me that you like become a nun right, there is a movie about a nun in the TV. You can watch that and handed me the remote. He might have gotten tired of watching so much TV that  morning or my brother was just being gracious to me that day. Trivia about me: When I entered high school, I was enrolled in an all-girls high school run by nuns. I loved their systematic schedule; their prayer time and meal time are based on a ringing of the bell; their early morning mass; their minimalistic cloister. I also developed a deep personal relationship with God that I felt like I had a calling to become a nun. My siblings would weirdly look at me when I would put a white cloth (lampin) over my head with the end just like nuns, with the two sides tucked underneath the back of my hair, as I go about my day in the house. They would find me sometimes prostrate on the ground with my face down with my hand spread in the side looking like a cross when I pray. So the people at home are well aware of my obsession to become a nun during the early part of my high school life. (Think Winona Ryder in the movie, Mermaids.)

 

So back to that day when my brother handed me the remote to watch this black & white movie about a nun. The movie is called "The Nun's Story" starring Audrey Hepburn. I thoroughly loved the movie and the actress. I even called my mother in the phone who is working in an office (we often call her in her work from time to time) and asked her if she knows Audrey Hepburn. I am also a fan of those TNT black & white movies. The local cable TV showed several movies starring Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast in Tiffany's and The Unforgiven. I grew to like her more and more. I started find articles about her too in my mother's magazine subscription.

 

When my family moved to Saudi Arabia when I was around 14-15 years old. My father's company has this huge library for staff and their family to use. I started checking out books about Audrey Hepburn - her life, her style, her beauty. The more things I learned about her, the more I even liked her more. I love her classic style. I love her fashion sense. I love the little black dress, the white big button down shirt with a black tights, her ballet flats. I learned about her humanitarian project and her connection to UNICEF. Not only is she a wonderful actress with a great sense of style but an amazing kind selfless person too. 

 

When I got older, my admiration for her never waiver. I started collecting books about her, memorabilia, photos, poster, necklace and makeup pouch which her photo on it. I just adore her.  I dont often have a favorite current Hollywood or local actress favorite except for Audrey Hepburn.

 

 I will leave you a poem that Audrey Hepburn recited during one of her UNICEF speeches.

 

 

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

 

For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, 

reclaimed, and redeemed; Never throw out anybody.

Remember, If you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

(From: https://thelaglow.com/audrey-hepburn-beauty-tips-poem/)