Tammy's In Love

"I hear the cottonwoods whisperin' above,
'Tammy...Tammy...Tammy's in love'
The ole hooty-owl hooty-hoos to the dove,
'Tammy...Tammy...Tammy's in love'"

There has been so much "cotton" blowing off a nearby cottonwood tree the last few days which is what reminded me of this song. Debbie Reynolds had a #1 hit with it the summer of 1957. The song is from the movie, "Tammy and the Bachelor" which starred Reynolds, Leslie Nielsen and Walter Brennan.

The summer of '57 is the summer I learned to swim. Corning's new pool opened that year. Betty and I were a little 'old' to be just learning to swim. I think there were five or six of us in our class. I was so excited the first day because I learned to float! I learned to swim well enough by the end of lessons that I passed the test which allowed me to go into the deep end of the pool. I loved diving and spent most of my time at the pool repeatedly diving off the low board. Once I thought I was brave enough to go off the high board; climbed the ladder, walked to the edge of the board, looked over and went back. I made all the kids waiting on the ladder climb down just so I could. Yeah, they laughed at me.

It was the summer before I started high school. I was pretty interested in getting to know some of the town boys who were going to be in my class. But I was too shy to actually talk to them other than a "hi". Then I would go home and write in my diary that I had "talked" to GD or JB or LH that day.

And I would listen to: "Does my lover feel what I feel when he comes near? My heart beats so joyfully, you'd think that he could hear. Wish I knew if he knew what I'm dreaming of. Tammy....Tammy....Tammy's in love." and imagine that I, too, was in love. Boy did I have a lot to learn! (But being able to remember those feelings is what makes me able to understand what my granddaughters are going through.)

Sandra Dee replaced Debbie Reynolds in the next two Tammy movies: "Tammy Tell Me True" (1961) and "Tammy and the Doctor"(1963). The theme songs from those movies aren't nearly as memorable as "Tammy". I'm sure the song and the movies had a lot to do with the number of little girls named Tammy in the late 50's and early 60's.