When life gets to 'ya...think back and enjoy.
Old memories are the best.
(maybe something to fill the GFO newsletter)
----- Original Message -----
Close your eyes...And go back in time...
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, doubledutch,
jacks, kickball, dodgeball.
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.
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night.
Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or
maybe butter pecan.
Wait...
Watching Saturday Morning cartoons...
Short commercials.
Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man,
The Three Stooges, and Bugs.
Or staying up for Gunsmoke
Or back further...
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 weapon.
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 them,
or use them 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...
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo."
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 dodgeball
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 " I double-dare you"
Older siblings were the worst tormentors,
but also the fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these,
then you have LIVED!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break
from their "grown up" life...
I DOUBLE DARE YA
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Paul Tegler ptegler@gouldfo.com www.teglerizer.com
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