If he's smart, he'll have someone call you.
BTW, someone sent this to me via email. Although I'm not quite old enough to remember all of them, it is still an interesting read.
If you are old enough... 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, Kukla, 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, Red
Skelton, 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...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 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.
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 the
80's and 90's ...
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,Sky
King, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger and
Buttermilk...as well as the sound of a real 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 that! |
