Free Marilyn Monroe by Michelle Morgan Page B

and Norma Jeane appeared extremely happy to other members of the family. Nevertheless, during a family picnic at Lake Sherwood, she was unusually pensive, despite Jim serenading her with his guitar. ‘Her only contribution to the fun was a quiet smile of pride – and six lemon pies,’ recalled sister-in-law Elyda Nelson.
    Jim and Norma Jeane began dating regularly, and spent time with each other at the beach, hiking in the Hollywood Hills, boating at Pop’s Willow Lake and fishing at Lake Sherwood. It was at the lake that she first spent time with Jim’s nephew, PaulKanteman, who was around eight years old at the time: ‘As I remember, I thought she was very pretty and nice. We had a row boat and Norma Jeane rowed while we fished. She did do a good job of rowing, and we caught some nice bass.’
    Norma Jeane wanted to finish high school, ‘but I discovered that school and marriage don’t mix. We were poor, so naturally my job was to keep house on the lowest possible budget.’ She made arrangements to leave University High School, but when she told her social studies teacher, he exclaimed that she would ruin her life if she got married, insisting she probably didn’t even know what love was. It was this decision, to leave school before graduation, which would plague her for the rest of her life. She lied about it in interviews, claiming she graduated after her marriage, and forever tried to ‘catch up’ with her education by attended courses and paying for private tuition. But in the summer of 1942, the decision was made and she left fulltime education, shortly before her marriage, to concentrate on becoming Mrs Dougherty.
    The wedding preparations were hastily but lavishly prepared and the couple received various items from friends and family, including a coffee set, gold-coloured vases, bath towels, wash cloths, embroidered dish towels and: ‘The most beautiful cocktail set I have ever seen in my life . . . It is really beautiful.’ The ceremony was to take place at 432 South Bentley, the home of Chester and Doris Howell, which had been picked out because Norma Jeane loved the idea of a ceremony based around the large, winding staircase. Aunt Ana busied herself with the dress, while Norma Jeane picked out the wedding rings, and notices appeared in the local paper. Even one of the younger members of the family, Paul Kanteman, had lots to do on the run-up to the big day: ‘A couple of weeks before the event my Mother and I went to Shulman’s Men’s store in Van Nuys to buy me some clothes that would be fitting for a ring bearer: a new pair of black pants, white shirt and black, shiny shoes. I remember going to school and telling all the kids that my Uncle was going to marry the most beautiful girl in the world and that I was tobe their ring bearer. We had a rehearsal and I was taught how to do the hesitation step and how to hold the pillow that would have the ring pinned to it. I practiced that step all the time so that it would be just right and my Uncle Jim would be proud of me. If my mother asked me to do something, it was always to the hesitation beat – I’m sure everyone was glad when it was all over and my productivity level returned to full-time!’
    Norma Jeane had been keen to live with her in-laws once the marriage had taken place, but on 8 June 1942 the couple found and leased a furnished apartment at 4524 Vista Del Monte and, according to Paul Kanteman, they were the first to live there. ‘It was small but nice,’ he remembered. ‘It had a small bedroom, living room, bathroom and a tiny kitchen; so tiny that if you were to turn around too quickly, you might stick your own finger in your eye!’
    Tiny or not, it would be home for Mr and Mrs Dougherty, and Norma Jeane was so proud of it that she later drew a detailed floor plan and mailed it to Aunt Grace. ‘We sure have a cute little house,’ she wrote. ‘I’m going to take a picture of it and send it to you.’ Watching Norma Jeane take