I'm going somewhere with this. Theoretically. Eventually.

My name is Catherine Angela Hudgens Leighton, but you probably know me better as Carrie Leighton, willowy wife of the late Peter Leighton. In the sixty years since I was thrust into the Hollywood spotlight, I have graced the cover of more than five thousand magazine covers, had millions of photos taken and been the subject of countless rumors and blogs. I have had assistants and agents and my husband to speak for me, but now the time has come for me to speak for myself. Though you may find some of it hard to believe, I assure you that what I say is all true. Hollywood is a much more tangled web than anyone would dare believe.

My father, Glenn Hudgens, inherited the family farm of four generations. He was a simple man whose passion was in growing corn. Corn was his life from birth and it would serve him well until the government seized his farm for ethanol production in 2015. He was a quiet man, but never gave a hint of dissatisfaction with his life. So long as the crops were good, he was happy. When the crops were bad, he had faith that the next year would be better. He met my mother, Judy, when they were both sixteen. He was in town to sell corn, she to buy it. They were instant sweethearts who remained together for the rest of their lives. My mother, unlike so many women of the time, had no interest in feminism or working outside the home. She was a mild woman who never ceased to find new and inventive ways to cook the corn my father grew. She graduated from high school, my father did not. They intended to fill the farm with children, but in the end they only had three. I was the youngest by about three years, my sister Mary was the oldest followed by my brother John. My parents worked hard to give us a simple, uncomplicated upbringing. In an era where children began to become more materialistic and selfish, my parents succeeded in keeping our life simple.