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  Jean Harlow's Ghost 
             GoldenView

Bonnie was actually going to LIVE in Brazil for 2 years!� She was 17, but had never traveled. Now she wanted� to learn all she could about life in other parts of the world. She made a promise ..a promise to herself� .. to get to know the Brazilian people & to ask them to teach her about their country! "That's the way to learn ..... from the people!"
Bonnie didn't waste any time! She put her plan into action the day she
arrived in Rio de Janeiro. The hotel was near the beach, and the beach was a place to meet people, so with her two little brothers in hand, she set out on her adventure.
Squiggling her toes in the sand, she felt pleased with her new swimsuit. Her family had been told that the "proper" beach attire in Brazil was very, very conservative, so she'd bought a suit that exposed just a bit of midriff. "It's demure" said the saleslady. "Well, actually it's 1959, and "demure" is out of date, but maybe that's exactly what I need!"
Thinking back, as she shielded herself from the splashes of her playful brothers, Bonnie thought, "I'm so glad I chose THIS suit, even if it DOES look like one I saw in a 1940's Jean Harlowe Movie! At least I can say that I am "properly attired"! Brazil's "eons" away from the Age of the Bikini!
She looked up from the sand to check out the rest of the sunbathers, and
realized that they were looking at her.
"Hmmmm.....So, if I'm dressed OK, why is everyone staring at me?"� She looked at the beautifully tanned Brazilian bodies, & suddenly she was excruciatingly self-conscious. She & her brothers had "deathly" white skin, & their hair was so blond it was almost white.
"Oh my gosh!!" Bonnie had a thought that hit her like a tidal wave! "I have Jean Harlowe hair & skin and a bathing suit to match! If I'm going to get to know the people here, I'll have to DO something about this! I'll never fit in looking like THIS!!
"Doing something" called for tanning lotion - the kind that gives you the "Instant Tan", & hair dye. "Yes! Dark hair and dark skin! That's what I want!" (And that's what she got!) Within a couple days, she was back on the beach.....Alone....And as a brunette.
I wonder if my family understands why I'm doing this?" she pondered, but she knew they didn't. In fact, in those days, the idea that someone would want to get to know people who were different BECAUSE of their
differences, rather than in SPITE of them, was as strange as saying you'd like to fly to the moon!
The two years passed quickly & Bonnie made lots of friends at the beach who, in turn, helped her make more friends. Speaking Portuguese was no problem. By then, she didn't just look Brazilian, she sounded Brazilian too. She'd kept her promise to herself....learning more about Brazil, herself, & people in general, than she'd expected. But it was time to leave. It was over!� ...."What now?"
At 19 she asked herself this, but during the cruise home something
happened that made her realize there was still a LOT she DIDN'T know about life! She overheard a conversation that truly shocked her.
"Have you seen the new swimsuits the girls are wearing in Rio?" a lady was saying. "A couple years ago they wore modest one piece suits. Now it's all changed!"
"And I can tell you how it ALL started!" said her friend. "It was 2 years ago that a young girl with platinum blond hair appeared on the beach. She was wearing a two piece suit... & the rest is history."
"Who was she?"
"Who knows?� It's a mystery! She was there.... then she just vanished!" Laughingly, she said "Some say it was Jean Harlowe's ghost revisiting us! She loved Rio!"

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