My Childhood

This story and the ones that follow are chapters of my life growing up in the 50's. Dad was a consulting engineer, Mom, a housewife. Most of my life was spent living in the Midwest; Ohio (born a Buckeye), Kansas,Illinois,Pennsylvania and New York and Canada. I hope you enjoy my tales of childhood angst and humor... My Childhood...

My family took memorable Summer vacation trips in Mom's 1955 Black and Red Ford Sunliner Convertible. It was a beaut! Imagine three rambunctious kids in the backseat of this car for a 6 hour cartrip.

Thankfully our Mother had an endless supply of "cargames" and songs to sing in order to keep us amused. One of my favorite games was "Time To Feed The Chickens". When we least expected it Mom would call out TIME TO FEED THE CHICKENS! and HURL a handful or two of candy corn (chicken feed) into the backseat. We would scramble for these orange,yellow and white nuggets like miners in the 1849 California Gold Rush.

What a frenzy! After minutes of clawing the floor,between and under the seats (while Dad is driving) my older sister, Patty would announce, Time's Up! Sometimes Dad would say, Ok, that's enough, girls, followed by Do I have to pull this car over to the side of the road, girls?!

Our frantic search was over, now began the "counting of the corn" to see who held the lion's share. Usually it was Patty since she was the oldest, bigger and more adept with her elbows. She's three years older than I am, Margie is five years younger. Margie was just happy not to be trampled upon during The Great Chicken Feed Scrimmage. Yes, I am the Misunderstood, Maladjusted Middle Child.

This simple game inspired competition to a "cut-throat" degree. But in all fairness, when the game was over, the counting done, we always divided the candy corn evenly. Most people associate candy corn with Halloween, I remember "Time To Feed the Chickens."

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