It’s been a long summer for this tired Baby-Boomer fighting =
an aging body and mind. Time for you to take a walk with your mind like I d=
id. Close your eyes and go back five or six decades. Way back. Focus on eac=
h phrase and paint a picture from memory.
>Think about sitting on the cu=
rb, sitting on the stoop, about playing hide and go seek, Simon Says, Red l=
ight – Green light.
>Think about lunch=
boxes with a thermos, chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny candy fr=
om the store, hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with keys, Jacks, Hula Hoops =
and sunflower seeds, wax lips and mustaches, Mary Janes, saddle shoes, and =
Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom.
>Think about running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bob=
by pins, Mickey Mouse Club, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Kookla, Fran & Olli=
e, Spin & Marty . . . all in living black & white.
>Think about when around the corner seemed far away, a=
nd going downtown seemed like going somewhere. Climbing trees, making forts=
, backyard shows, lemonade stands, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, s=
taring at clouds, jumping on the bed, pillow fights, ribbon candy, angel ha=
ir on the Christmas tree, Jackie Gleason, white gloves, walking to the movi=
e theater, running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your =
stomach hurt.
>Think about the girl wh=
o dotted her "i’s" with hearts? The Stroll, popcorn balls & s=
ock hops; remember when… there were two types of sneakers for girls and b=
oys (Keds & PF Flyer) and the only time you wore them at school was for=
"gym." And the girls wore crinolines under their skirts.
Be care=
ful walking with me, because step on a crack and you’ll break your mother’s=
back. While walking we can talk about paper chains at Christmas, silhouett=
es of Lincoln and Washington, the smell of paste in school, and Evening in =
Paris.
And while we’re talking see if you recall . . .
*When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up. =
*When nearly everyone’s Mom was at home when =
the kids got home from school.
*When nob=
ody owned a purebred dog.
*When a quarte=
r was a decent allowance.
*When you’d rea=
ch into a muddy gutter for a penny.
*When=
your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
*When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers ha=
d their hair done every day, and wore high heels.
*When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped=
, without asking, all for free, every time. And, you didn’t pay for air.&nb=
sp; And, you got trading stamps to boot!
=
*When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside th=
e box.
*When it was considered a great p=
rivilege 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 =
the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a =
test or chew gum. And the prom was in the auditorium and you danced to an o=
rchestra.
*When a ’57 Chevy was everyone’=
s dream car… to cruise, peel out, lay rubber, or watch submarine races, a=
nd people went steady, and girls wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped =
band Aids, dental floss or yarn coated with pastel frost nail polish so it =
would fit her finger.
*When no one ever =
asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the i=
gnition, and the doors were never locked!
^Remember lying on your back on t=
he grass with your friends and saying things like "That cloud looks li=
ke a…"
^Remember playing baseball=
with no adults to ‘help’ kids with the rules of the game.
^Remember when stuff from the store came without safety c=
aps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect str=
anger.
^Remember when being sent to the p=
rincipal’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited us at home.=
Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn’t because of drive b=
y shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bi=
gger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat=
=2E
^Remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys,=
Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger, T=
he Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk.
^Remember the sound of a reel mower on Saturday=
morning, and summers filled with bike rides, baseball games, bowling, and =
visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.
Didn’t that feel=
good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!" An=
d don’t you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the=
slower pace… and share it with your grandchildren of today?
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
=
[email protected] www.grif.net
"Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!"
www.avast.com