Close your eyes...
And go back...
....Before the Internet or PC or the MAC......
....Before semi-automatics and crack....
....Before Playstation, SEGA, Super Nintendo, even before Atari...
....Before cell phones, CD's, DVD's, voicemail and e-mail....
....way back....
....way.....way.....way back.....
I'm talkin' bout hide and seek at dusk....
Red light , Green light and Red Rover....Red Rover.....
Playing kickball & dodgeball until the first... no... second...no...third Streetlight came on.
Ring around the Rosie and London Bridge.
Hot potato and Hop Scotch.
Jump rope,
Duck....duck....GOOSE!!! and YOU'RE IT!!
Parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home - no pagers or cell phones!
Mother May I?
Hula Hoops
Seeing shapes in the clouds and spending hours doing just that.
Endless summer days and hot summer nights (no A/C) with the windows open, the fans going, and a sweet gentle breeze.
The sound of crickets.
Running through the sprinkler.
Happy Meals
Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom, and Cracker Jacks with the same thing.
Ice pops with 2 sticks you could break and share with a friend.
...but wait.....there's more....
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons.
Fat Albert, Road Runner, Smurfs, Picture Pages, G-Force, He-Man, Schoolhouse Rock.
Watchin' Sunday morning oldies (Abbott & Costello, Three Stooges)
Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos.
FONZIE.....AYYYYYYYY
Playing Dukes of Hazard...
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar and letting them go.
Christmas morning (usually before 6AM, much to your parents' consternation).
Your first day of school.
Bedtime and Goodnight Kisses.
Climbing trees.
Swinging as high as you could to try and reach the sky, and jumping off.
Getting an Ice Cream off the Good Humor Truck was a TREAT.
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers.
Jumpin' down the steps and jumpin' on the bed.
Pillow fights and Sleep-overs with scary movies.
A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were RICH.
Runnin' till you were out of breath and falling down, laughing.
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Being tired from PLAYING.
WORK: meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes.
Your first crush.
Your first kiss (I mean the one that you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN)
Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7UP" or hangman" or "fruitbasket turnover" in the classroom, Remember that?
Oh, I'm not finished yet....
Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer, but so was a swig from the hose.
Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars.
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school.
Class Field Trips with soggy sandwiches.
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance; and another quarter a MIRACLE.
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 your parents took you to McDonalds and you were COOL.
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to.... the fate that awaited you 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 em!
Didn't that feel good? Just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!"
Well, let's keep going!!
Let's go back to the time when...
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issues" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "monopoly"
Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20. (CRAP! I'm officially old!)
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.
Nobody was prettier than Mom.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed by mom or grandma and made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare"
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate, ultimate weapon.
Older siblings were your worst tormentors, but also your fiercest protector
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!
Now wipe that tear away and keep them fresh in your memories because we were the lucky one's to have lived it, So we have them to remember!!!!!!!!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life......
