Take a step back...
Take a stroll with me. . . Close your eyes . . . and go back. Before the
Internet . . . before semi-automatics and crack . . .before SEGA or Super
Nintendo . . . way back . . .
I¹m talking about sitting on the curb, sitting on the stoop, about hide and
go seek, Simon Says, Red light - Green light. Lunch boxes with a thermos.
Chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny candy from the store, hopscotch,
butterscotch, skates with keys, Jacks, Hula Hoops and sunflower seeds, wax
lips and mustaches, Mary Jane¹s, saddle shoes and Coke bottles with the
names of cities on the bottom.
Running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins, Mickey Mouse Club,
Rocky & Bullwinkle, Kookla, Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty . .all in black &
white.
When around the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like going
somewhere. Climbing trees, making forts, backyard shows, lemonade stands,
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, staring at clouds, jumping on the
bed, pillow fights, ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie
Gleason, white gloves, walking to the movie theater, running till you were
out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Remember that?
Not stepping on a crack or you¹ll break our mother¹s back...
paper chains at
Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington ...the smell of paste in
school and Evening in Paris.
What about the girl who dotted her "i¹s" with hearts?
The Stroll, popcorn balls, & sock hops.
Remember when . . .there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds
& PF Flyer) and the only time you wore them at school was for "gym." And the
girls had those ugly gym uniforms. When it took five minutes for the TV to
warm up.
When nearly everyone¹s Mom was at home when the kids got home from school.
When nobody owned a purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance,
When you¹d reach 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 had their hair done, everyday and wore high heels. When you
got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking,
all for free, every time. And, you didn¹t pay for air. And, you got trading
stamps to boot! When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels
hidden inside the box.
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 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 orchestra. When a Œ57 Chevy was everyone¹s dream car . . .to cruise,
peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and 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.
And no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in
the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked.
Remember lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying things
like "That cloud looks like a . . . "
And playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game.
Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic
seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. And ...
with all our progress....don¹t you just wish, just once, you could slip back
in time and savor the slower pace .... and share it with the children of
today...
When being sent to the principal¹s office was nothing compared to the fate
that awaited the student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn¹t because of drive by
shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much
bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the
threat.
So send this on to someone who can still remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy
Boys, Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, The Lone Ranger,
The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk ... as
well as 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.
Didn¹t that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that...
(someone sent this to me as an email... G)
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