OT - Down Memory Lane

[Guest guest]

TAKE A STROLL WITH ME . . . Down Memory Lane

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 . . .

I'm 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 of 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, 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, 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 (and " playing war " ), backyard shows, lemonade

stands, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, staring at clouds,

jumping on the bed (and going to the hospital after cracking your head),

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 you'll break your mother's back . . . paper

chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington, the smell of

past in school and Evening in Paris.

What about the girl 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 gym uniforms.

When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up (and the computer takes

longer to boot now). 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. 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 (Have the Rockefellers gotten

wealthier?)!

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 '57 Chevy (Bibler's and Stecklow's) was

everyone's dreamcar . . . 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 .....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... When being sent to the principal's office was nothing

compared to the fate that awaited a the 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 survived because their love was greater than the threat.

So send this on to someone who can still remember 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.

Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, " Yeah, I remember

that!!!!!! "