Close your eyes.....and go back....

Before the Internet or the MAC,
Before semi automatics and crack

Before chronic and indo
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo

WAY back........
Ok...now open them and go on this 'trip' with me
to "Yesteryear"

I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.

Sittin' on the porch; Hot bread and butter.

The Good Humor man,
Eatin' a 'super dooper sandwich',
Red light, Green light.

Chocolate milk,
Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag
Playin' Pinball in the corner store.

Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch
Jacks, kickball, dodgeball, y'all!

Mother May I?
Red Rover and Roly Poly
Double Dog Dares

Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds,
Jolly Ranchers, blowpops, Mary Janes,
Banana Splits, Wax Lips and Mustaches
and Licorice Records
Grape and Watermelon Now-Laters
(what about "Alexander the grape," and "lemonheads")

Running through the sprinkler
(I can't get wet! All right, well don't wet my hair....)

The smell of the sun and lickin' salty lips....

Wait......
Watchin' Saturday morning cartoons,
Fat Albert, Road Runner,
He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs;

Or back further, listening to Superman on the radio

Catching lightening bugs in a jar,
Playing sling shot.

When around the corner seemed far away,
And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.

Bedtime, climbing trees,
An 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;

A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,

Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians,
Sittin' on the curb,

Jumping down the steps,
Jumping on the bed.
Pillow fights

Being tickled to death

Running till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from playin'.... Remember that?

I ain't finished just yet...

Crowding around in a circle around the
'after school fight', then running
when the teacher came.

Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar

Remember when...

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.")

And how about "Poodle Skirts" and "saddle shoes"

When it took five minutes for
the TV to warm up,
(if you even had one.)

When nearly everyone's mom was at home
when the kids got there.

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 girls neither dated nor
kissed until
late high school, if then.

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.

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 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 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 'em!!!

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

There's nothing like the good old days!
They were good then,
and they're good now
when we think about them.

Share some of these thoughts with a friend
who can relate, then share it with someone
that missed out on them.