Transition period.

Admittedly, I was never much of a fan of actress Farrah Fawcett, who passed away Thursday at the age of 62. Truth be told, I admired her less for her glamor and beauty and more for the fact she was once married to my childhood hero!

Fawcett shot to stardom in 1976 on the TV show Charlie's Angels. Despite lasting only one season, many remember her career as the bikini clad P.I. Jill Munroe. But it was Farrah's replacement, Cheryl Ladd, who helped me erase all doubts about...uh..."which way I swung".

When I was in third grade I collected Charlie's Angels trading cards (in addition to Star Wars and baseball cards). Then one day my teacher caught me admiring my favorite card of all. It was Cheryl Ladd's character, Kris Murone, wearing nothing but vines of a tree. The caption on the card read "The lovely Kris". Yeah, I'd say!!! Anyhow, my teacher in her agitation bellowed the following: "BRAD CARLSON! Throw those cards away!!" Dejected, I sauntered to the garbage can to discard my prize possessions. I had bought at least 10 packages of Charlie's Angels cards before I finally landed the crown jewel of Cheryl Ladd donning shrubbery. Now, it would be gone. I stood at the trash receptacle as if I were a holding a deceased goldfish at the foot of a toilet. I couldn't do it. But with a red-faced teacher watching me and exclaiming "NOW!!", I knew I had only one option. The moment I dropped the cards towards the basket, I turned and walked back to my desk with my head hung in despair.

I would never again reclaim that precious card I lost back in 1978. But not so coincidentally, it was around that same time that I began to notice my female classmates weren't so icky after all.

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