Close your eyes... And go back in time.... Before the Internet or the MAC. Before semi-automatics and crack...Before SEGA or Super Nintendo...Way back...

I'm talking about Hide and Seek at dusk.
The Good Humor man.

Red light, Green light. The corner store.

Hopscotch, butterscotch, double Dutch, jacks, kickball, dodge ball, Mother May I? Red Rover and Roly Poly. Hula Hoops. Running through the sprinkler.

The smell of the sun and licking salty lips.... Wax lips and mustaches. And ice cream cone on a warm summer night, chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe butter pecan. A cherry coke from the fountain at the corner drug store.

Wait Watching Saturday Morning cartoons...short commercials. Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs Bunny, or staying up for Gun smoke. Or back further, listening to Superman on the radio.

When around the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like going somewhere. A million mosquito bites. Sticky fingers. Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, Zorro. Climbing trees, Building igloos out of snow banks. Walking to school, no matter what the weather. Running till you were out of breath. Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights.

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles. Being tired from playing.... Remember that?

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. War was a card game. Water balloons were the ultimate weapons. Baseball cards in the spokes, transformed any bike into a motorcycle.


I'm not finished just yet…

Eating Kool-aid powder! Remember when...there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyers) and the only time you wore them at school, was for "gym."

It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends. When nobody owned a purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a miracle.
When milk went up one cent and everyone talked about it for weeks?

When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny. When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, 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 nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there. When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up, if you even had one.

When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces. It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb. When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents. When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then. When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done?

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 they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed, and did! 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! And some of us are still afraid of them!!

Didn't that feel good? Just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that!

Remember when…

Going “eeny-meeny-miney-mo” made decisions.

Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "Do over!" "Race issue,” meant arguing about who ran the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly." The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties. It was unbelievable that dodge ball wasn't an Olympic event. Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot. Nobody was prettier than Mom. Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better. Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin. Ice cream was considered a basic food group. Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true. Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare." Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.


If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!