posted on April 17, 2001 01:57:43 AM
A friend of mine sent this to me. Boy, all the memories! It's a long read, but it's worth it! Enjoy!
Close your eyes.....
And go back in time......
Before the Internet or the MAC,
Before semi automatics and crack....
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo.....
Way back.....
I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
sittin' on the porch,
Hot bread and butter.
The Good Humor man,
Red light/Green light,
Chocolate milk,
Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Playin' Pinball in the corner store.
Hopscotch,
butterscotch,
Doubledutch,
Jacks,
kickball,
dodgeball.
Mother, May I?
Red Rover and
Roly Poly,
Hula Hoops and
Sunflower Seeds,
Jolly Ranchers,
Banana Splits,
Wax Lips and
Mustaches
Running through the sprinkler.
The smell of the sun and lickin' salty lips......
Wait......
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons,
Fat Albert,
Road Runner,
He-Man, The
Three Stooges, and
Bugs....
Or back further,
listening to Superman on the radio,
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar,
Playing with a sling shot.
When around the corner seemed far away,
and going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Bedtime...
Climbing trees....
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night,
chocolate or vanilla or strawberry,
or maybe butter pecan.
A cherry coke from the fountain at the corner
drug store.
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,
Cops and Robbers,
Cowboys and Indians,
Sittin' on the curb,
Jumpin down the steps....
Jumpin' on the bed.....
Pillow fights, runnin' till you were out of breath,
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.....
Being tired from playin'.....
Remember that?
Ain't finished just yet....
Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar.....
Remember when.....
When there were two types of sneakers,
for girls and for boys, (Keds & PF Flyers) and
the only time you wore them was for "gym" at school?
When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up, if you even had one?
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there?
When nobody owned a purebred dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a miracle.
When milk went up one cent and everyone talked about it for weeks?
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then.
When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done, every day.
When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time.... and you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!
When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him turnip or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.
When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed... and did!
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat.... and some of us are still afraid of 'em!
Didn't that feel good......
just to go back and say,
"Yeah, I remember that!
There's nothing like the good old days! They were good then, and they're good now when we think about them.
I want to go back to the time when........
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeney-miney-mo."
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!
"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly."
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old referred to anyone over 20.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.
It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb.
It was unbelievable that dodgeball wasn't an Olympic event.
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
"Olly-olly-oxen-free" made perfect sense.
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
posted on April 17, 2001 05:01:55 AM
Thank you Yeager.... that actually brought tears to my eyes. Life was so good back then... I just hope that someday, my children can look back on theirs and find at least a FEW good things to remember.
posted on April 17, 2001 07:25:10 AM
I sincerely hope that those of you who actually have some good childhood memories appreciate them! I, alas having searched extensively, do NOT have any good ones and can only imagine that they should be cherished forever!
posted on April 17, 2001 08:09:34 AM
Thats beautiful!!!!
Ahhh memories......
yeah, society has changed, but is that the cause for all the violence in schools?
Back then it was ok to discipline your child, kids feared the wrath of their parents, and Mom was always there when they come home from school.
Working at a grocery store you can see alot of how a family works and interacts with each other. I do see alot of kids walking all over their parents and the parents aren't really doing nothing about it except saying when we get home your having a "time out"!!! The child basically laughs says ok and keeps on doing what they are doing. Jeez if I acted like that I would have gotten the paddle!!
Could some of this be the cause? Maybe.
Now, both parents have careers or working. When the child is really upset because they were getting picked on at school so they rush home on the break of tears only to come home to a empty house, noone there to console them. Could this be the cause? Maybe. Theres that tender age where the child needs the parent to teach them life lessons. If they are not there or not showing them enough, how will the child learn? How will the child understand? Now, I'm not picking on those parents who have to work. My mom was at home most of the time, but there were sometimes where she had to work. I undersood that. And other kids understand that too. I guess its how you raise them even though you have to work. One time I called my Mom a nasty word and I knew that, she put a bar of soap in my mouth. YOu know to this day I tend to watch what my language when elders are around. Its something to think about. I 'm tired of hearing all the scapegoats, its the TV, music the video games.
posted on April 17, 2001 10:36:52 AM
yeager - I spent my full summer vacation with my grandparents on their farm. What wonderful memories I have from those days.
A cousin had a large one room house with a huge potbellied stove in the center of the room. It heated the room, served as the stove, was used to boil the water for bathing (in a big tin tub) and for doing laundry. No inside plumbing.
My grandfather walked behind a single-blade plow that was pulled by a horse. He hand carried huge pails to 'slop' the hogs. Carried bundles of corn to feed the cows. My grandmother raised chickens and turkeys, grew an eight acre garden each year, fixed home made everything. Nothing tastes like fresh food, straight from the ground. Sweet corn, straight from the stock was only one of many treats.
I remember being in the wagon when the wheat was harvested and the grasshoppers hopping all around me.
Going to the grain elevator where his crops were weighed. Cleaning the eggs and weighing them before the 'egg man' came. Riding on the very top of the hay as it was harvested from the fields.
When my GF could buy a tractor, I loved riding on it as he plowed the fields and planted the crops.
Going dancing with them every Saturday night, and to church on Sundays.
It was a much simplier life back then. They were happy with less, and were thankful they had their land, health and family.
sharkbaby - I am so very sorry you don't have wonderful childhood memories. Hope you've been able to enjoy your adult life.
posted on April 18, 2001 12:43:04 PM
Ahh ... isn't that what eBay is all about?
Spending way too much money to buy that toy you coveted as a child that your parents could never afford?
Or buying many different versions of the toy you loved - to the death. Your hours spent with the toy literally left it in pieces?
Will someone please stop me before my husband discovers how much I have paid for those Kissy items?
A new joy I have discovered - my best friend as a very young child was Sally. In 4th grade she moved from PA to FLA and became Sarah. I will always remember the hours we spent playing - she with Nancy Nurse, me with Kissy - diapering, powdering, dressing, well I'm sure you get the picture.
Now, with the help of the internet we have once again clicked. I keep her up on the new Nancy Nurse dolls and items that are listed - and I buy the Kissy ones.
As I said before, I REFUSE TO GROW UP!
Thanks for the memories. Oh - and no matter what - she will always be SALLY to me!
posted on April 18, 2001 05:11:25 PM
Thanks kraftdinner! Yeah, sad but true. I have survived and that is something to be thankful for and (at this late date!) am working on, hopefully, knowing someday what being happy feels like. I have some good adult memories anyway! So, have to just go forward and not back..(Therapy sure helps, too!!)
