remembering: way back

Inspired by an email from a friend; this brought back some really fond memories. I made a few changes and it goes something like this:

Memories, aahhhh the memories . . . . .

Close your eyes and go back,
before the internet, PC or the Mac

Before semi-automatics and crack

Before PS2, XBOX, Super Nintendo, Sega and yes even before Atari

Before CD's, DVD's, mobile phones, voicemail and e-mail,
go way back

Way, way back . . . . .

I'm talking about Hide and Seek at dusk

Red Light, Green Light

Red Rover, Red Rover send _______ right over

Playing kickball and dodgeball until the
first, no second, no third street light came on

Ring Around the Rosie

London Bridge

Hot Potato

Hop Scotch

Jump Rope

Duck....Duck....GOOSE!!!

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 (some of us still have it, and I love that!)

Seeing shapes in the clouds (still doing this too!)

Endless summer days and hot summer nights (no A/C) with the
windows open (come on, click the links and sing along, or dance if you want?)

The sound of crickets

Running through the sprinklers

Cereal boxes with that great prize inside

Cracker Jacks with the same thing

Ice pops with 2 sticks you could break and share with a friend

Wait, wait there's more . . . . .

Watching Saturday morning cartoons: Fat Albert, Road Runner, Smurfs, Pink Panther and Schoolhouse Rock

Watching Sunday morning oldies like Abbott & Costello and The Three Stooges

The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman

The Fonz, "Aaaaaaaayyyyy"

Catching bugs in a jar

Christmas morning

Your first day of school

Bedtime prayers and goodnight kisses

Climbing trees

Swinging as high as you could to try and reach the sky

Getting an ice ream off the Good Humor Truck

Jumping down the steps

Jumping on the bed

Pillow fights

Sleep-overs

A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were rich

Running 'til you were out of breath

Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt

Being tired from playing outside

Work meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes

Your first crush

Your first kiss; the one where you kept your mouth closed and your eyes wide open

Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7UP" or Hangman inside the classroom

Hah, I'm not finished yet. . . . .

Kool-Aid was the drink of summer

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

Trading your lunch with someone else

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 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 or gangs

Didn't that feel good 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 the banker of Monopoly

It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends

Being old, referred to anyone over 20 (Darn! 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 "triple-dog-dare-ya"

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 weapon

Older siblings were your worst tormentors, but also your fiercest
protectors

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

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