A few words from Gary:

I have had a lot of fun putting this page together.  I suspect enjoyment of this page will require at least 50 to 60 years of maturity.  

If this stimulates your recall of the past, please SUBMIT your pieces (whether "one liners" like these or a whole story). 

 10/26/00

We made important decisions for the whole group by going "Eeny-meeny-miney-mo."

We could correct any mistakes we made with a pencil and an eraser. 

If we argued about a "race issue" we were yelling about who road their bike the fastest.  

Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly".  Of major concern was getting our $200 when we passed "Go" and not getting sent to "Jail". We tried to get the "Utilities" and the "Railroads", and getting "Board Walk" with a hotel usually meant winning the game.  

Nature's perfect abundance at our homestead

Being old referred to anyone over 21, and that was what you wanted to be because you saw yourself with your own car.  

The worst thing we could catch from the opposite sex was "cooties".

"It's snowing down south" was code to signal your friend her slip was showing.

It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb.  He would tickle your ear by blowing in it, and scratch your cheek with his 5:00 PM shadow.

Getting caught meant the teacher made you stay after school for shooting spit wads.

Dodge ball was the best part of gym class, and you hung out in the back row next to the wall so no one could hit you with the ball.

Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot, rubber band, squirt gun, or a pea shooter and being sent to the principal's office.

Nobody was prettier than Mom or stronger than Dad.

Scrapes and bruises were healed with a kiss and made all better.

It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park, especially drive the bumper cars.  

Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true, and we still went to school.

Our true abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare" from a friend.

Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30 minute ads for action figures.  There was Daffy Duck, Farmer Brown, Heckle and Jeckle, and The Road Runner.

We were too old to watch Howdy Doody, but we still did it.  

"Red paint" on sumac in our fence row

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was the ultimate "high".

"Olly-olly-oxen-free" made perfect sense.

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.  But even worse yet was being so worthless that we were given to the other team.  

War was a card game, and we ruined the deck as we tried to put our cards on first.

Water balloons were the ultimate weapon, especially when you were lying "in ambush" waiting for the kids down the street.

Baseball cards mounted against the spokes with spring loaded clothes pins transformed our bikes into a motorcycle.

Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin.

Ice cream was considered a basic food group, and going to Grandmother's meant getting a brown sugar sandwich on homemade white bread with real butter.

Older siblings were the worst tormentors but also the fiercest protectors. 

Going out to eat was unheard of except for very special occasions and "pop" was something saved for New Years or a birthday.  

Pants and slacks were only for the guys.  Girls wore skirts, dresses and anklets.

Gym shoes were for gym class only and girls wore white gym shoes and guys wore black gym shoes.  

Please SUBMIT your favorite memories to share with our caregivers.

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