Ricky Nelson The Son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson

In 1952 a television show attracted the attention of my mother. She was from New York and had followed the Ozzie Nelson Band. When the show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, came over from radio to television, she was one of the first viewers.

The show starred the entire family especially Ricky Nelson. He was the most adorable of the two sons. David resembled his dad, while Ricky had the fine features of his mother. I fell instantly in love with him. He was only four years older than my 8 years.

Now the show was on at 8:00 pm in Miami. My bed time was 7:00 pm (until I was in high school when my dear dad suggested to mom it might be okay to let me stay up longer). In order to get to watch the show, Mom made me a deal. I would go to bed with the others and she would come wake me up for the show. It was a special time that we shared and I will always remember it fondly.

I adored Ricky and followed his career. In August 1958, Ricky Nelson played at the Indianapolis State Fair Coliseum. It was the first concert that I attended. I was in the third row. Ricky was only 18 and just launching his vocal career. He sang on the television show several times and after a while the show always ended with Ricky singing a song.

I''m not sure why it is that so many of our special singers die in plane crashes. I know they use planes that are often not expensive and seem not to be maintained. When Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash on December 31, 1985, he was only 45. Just thinking about it makes me so sad.

I watch NCIS all of the time and have always felt that his brother-in-law Mark Harmon has the same fine facial features of Ricky. I believe that I will go play my Ricky Nelson CD now.