.
..
take a stroll with me . . . close your eyes. . . and go back . . .before the Internet . . . before semiautomatics and crack . . .before SEGA or Super Nintendo . . way back . . .I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk. Sittin' on the porch, Simon Says, Kick the Can, 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, Mother May I? Hula Hoops and sunflower seeds, Whist and Old Maid and Crazy Eights, wax lips and mustaches, Mary Janes, 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, Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty all in black & white. When around the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like going somewhere. Bedtime, climbing trees, making forts ... backyard shows, lemonade stands, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, sittin' on the curb, staring at clouds, jumping down the steps, jumping on the bed, pillow fights, getting "company," ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie Gleason, white gloves, walking to church, walking to the movie theater, being tickled to death, running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt, being tired from playin' ... Remember that? Not steppin' on a crack or you'll break your mother's back ... paper chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington ... the smell of paste in school and Evening in Paris. What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting, who dotted her "i's" 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 uniforms. 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 nobody owned a purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter, a huge bonus. When you'd 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 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 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 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 we danced to an orchestra, and all the girls wore pastel gowns and the boys wore suits for the first time and we stayed out all night. When a '57 Chevy was everyone's 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 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 'cause they were always in the car, in the ignition,
and
the doors were never locked. And you got in big trouble if you
accidentally
locked the doors at home, since no one ever had a key.
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. Back then, baseball was not a
psychological group learning experience-it was a game.
Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic
seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. And ...
with
all our progress ... don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back
in
time and savor the slower pace ... and share it with the children of
today
...
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, playing in cowboy land, baseball games, bowling and
visits
to the pool ... and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.
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! But we all
survived
because their love was greater than the threat.
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember!
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