Remember when?

[hensylee]

: Remember when!!!!!!!!!!

Were you a kid in the Fifties, Sixties or earlier? Everybody makes fun of
our
childhood! Comedians joke. Grandkids snicker. Twenty-something's shudder
and

say "Eeeew!" But was our childhood really all that bad? Judge for
yourself:


In 1953 The US population was less than 150 million... Yet you knew more
people then, and knew them better... And that was good.


The average annual salary was under $3,000... Yet our parents could put
some

of it away for a rainy day and still live a decent life... And that was
good.


A loaf of bread cost about 15 cents... But it was safe for a
five-year-old
to
skate to the store and buy one... And that was good.


Prime-time meant I. Love Lucy, Ozzie and Harriet, Gunsmoke and Lassie...
So
nobody ever heard of ratings or filters... And that was good.


We didn't have air-conditioning... So the windows stayed up and half a
dozen

mothers ran outside when you fell off your bike... And that was good.


Your teacher was either Miss Matthews or Mrs. Logan or Mr. Adkins... But
not

Ms Becky or Mr. Dan... And that was good.


The only hazardous material you knew about... Was a patch of grassburrs
around the light pole at the corner... And that was good.


You loved to climb into a fresh bed... Because sheets were dried on the
clothesline... And that was good.


People generally lived in the same hometown with their relatives... So
"child
care" meant grandparents or aunts and uncles... And that was good.


Parents were respected and their rules were law.... Children did not talk

back..... and that was good.


TV was in black-and-white... But all outdoors was in glorious
color....And
that was certainly good.


Your Dad knew how to adjust everybody's carburetor... And the Dad next
door
knew how to adjust all the TV knobs... And that was very good.


Your grandma grew snap beans in the back yard... And chickens behind the
garage... And that was definitely good.


And just when you were about to do something really bad... Chances were
you'd
run into your Dad's high school coach... Or the nosy old lady from up the

street... Or your little sister's piano teacher... Or somebody from
Church...
ALL of whom knew your parents' phone number... And YOUR first name... And

even THAT was good! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

[cookie]

Here's another "age guage". I don't know if I should be depressed or not!


One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events.
The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at
schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandma replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born, before
television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses,
Frisbees and the pill. There was no radar, credit cards, laser beams or
ball-point pens.



Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes
dryers,
and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man hadn't yet
walked on the moon.
Your Grandfather and I got married first-and then lived together. Every
family
had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called every man older than I,
'Sir'- and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a
title, "Sir.'

We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers,daycare centers,
and
group therapy. Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good
judgment,
and common sense. We were taught to know the difference between right and
wrong and to stand up and take Responsibility for our actions.

Serving your country was a privilege ; living in this country was a bigger
privilege. Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the
evening breeze started.


We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and
weekends
- - - not purchasing condominiums.

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt,
or
guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the
President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid
blowing
his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term
'making
out' referred to how you did on your school exam.

Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of. We had 5 &
10-cent
stores where you could actually buy things for five and ten cents. Ice-cream
cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And
if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps
to
mail 1 letter and two postcards.


You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 but who could afford one? Too bad,
because gas was 11 cents a gallon.
In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something
your mother cooked in, and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby. "

"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, "chip" meant a piece of wood,
"hardware" was found in a hardware store, and "software" wasn't even a word.


And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a
husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say
there is a generation gap...


And how old do you think this grandmother is?

Read on to see!!!

This Woman would be only 58 years old!
Pretty scary if you think about it
and pretty sad at the same time.

 

[hensylee]

Thanks, Cookie - I just copied and sent along to elders where my brother lives.

 

[Lorraine]

Hi Hensylee & Cookie,

Here's one a friend had just sent me this morning. I thought it should go on this thread too. Took me back to how I grew up, thats for sure!

My parents are part of what has been labeled the Greatest Generation. I
hail from a great generation as well. That's because my peers and I , the
oft maligned baby boomers, came before seat belts, bike helmets and all
things plastic that protected children from the hazards of everyday life.
We were the last Americans to grow up without a childproof safety net.

I know that many of today's protective gadgets prevent kids from getting
seriously injured. Looking back, I sometimes wonder how my friends and I
survived childhood at all. But, I believe that we experienced a different
kind of freedom that children who came after us have not.

I was born in November 1954 and whisked from the hospital during a violent
California rainstorm, not in a car seat but in my mother's arms. Since our
car didn't have seat belts, we drove commando.

As a baby, I was tucked into my crib without a padded bumper guard or a
machine that soothed me to sleep with amplified sounds of the ocean. Baby
pictures show me smiling while I stuck my big head through the wooden bars.
At night my mother swaddled me in warm pajamas, the non-flame-retardant
kind.

Once I could walk, I was free to roam around the house under the watchful
eye of my parents. Unfortunately, their diligence couldn't prevent every
mishap. My mom still tells the story of how I learned not to play with
electricity by sticking my toy into an open light socket. When my parents
need peace and quiet, they didn't put me in front of the TV to watch "Baby
Einstein" video, they propped me in a chair to watch my mom do housework or
cook.

My dad drove a monstrous Chrysler that had a rear window ledge large enough
to provide a comfortable sleeping area during long drives. As a
5-year-old, I loved lying on that ledge, staring at the sky or the stars
while we roared down the new California freeways. I was a projectile object
waiting to happen! Riding in the front didn't improve my odds much,
whenever the car came to an abrupt stop, my mother or father would fling an
arm across my chest to keep me from going airborne.

During my grade-school years, my mother would often leave my younger sister
and me in the car, keys in the ignition and doors unlocked, while she went
shopping. When we got home I would run to join my friends, with the only
rule being to get home by dark. My parents weren't terrified if I was out
of the sight. In fact, they enjoyed the silence.

Playing at the park was a high-risk adventure for my friends and me. The
jungle gym was a heavy gray apparatus with medal bars, screws and hooks.
On a hot day the metallic surface of the sliding board would burn our
behinds. A great afternoon at the park usually meant coming home with
blisters on our hands, a bump or two on the melon and the obligatory
skinned knee.

I rode my red Schwinn Stingray without wearing a bike helmet; my Davy
Crocket cap protected me from serious head injury. Although I did not
have the benefit of a crossing guard at the blind intersection, I had to
traverse to get to school, I was sure the snapping sound made by the
baseball cards stuck in my spokes alerted on-coming traffic to my presence.

Every school day my mother packed my Jetsons lunchbox with a tuna-fish
sandwich, which we found out later often contained high levels of mercury
and a dolphin or two. Also stuffed in my lunchbox was a pint of whole
chocolate milk and a package of Hostess Twinkies or cupcakes.

Despite our high-fat, high sugar diets, my friends and I were not out of
shape. Maybe that was because we worked so hard in PE class everyday.
Occasionally our teacher pushed us so far that some poor kid would throw up
his lunch.

In the afternoons we played in a school-sponsored baseball league. We
didn't wear plastic batting helmets or cups, and we hit pitched balls
instead of hitting off a tee. Worst of all, we received trophies or medals
only if our team won the championship.

Last February, Americans were captivated by the skeleton event at the 2002
Olympics. But 35 years earlier, my junior-high friends and I invented our
own version of the sport. We road down steep Bay Area streets on a
flexible sled with wheels instead of runners. like the Olympians, we held
our chins just inches above the ground. You don't see kids today with two
false front teeth nearly as often as you did in 1967.

We baby boomers may not have weathered the Depression or stormed the
beaches at Normandy. But we were the last generation to live on the edge
and, I believe, to have fun!

 

[cookie]

I wouldn't trade the era I grew up in for anything. Many fond memories and yes. we are probably lucky we didn't have more mishaps but we did "live life on the edge" so to speak. I wouldn't trade a minute of it!

 

[Lorraine]

I agree Cookie! I feel during the years I was growing up, I lived in the best of times. Our life was simpiler. Here's a couple of more another friend sent me. Some I'm sure can really relate! I thought both were pretty darn good!

George Carlin's view on aging:

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids?

If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!"

You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!

That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21 . . . YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now; you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing... you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there.

Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!


HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's
workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

 

[Lorraine]

Hi Everyone,

Here's another "age Guage". THe 30 year one is really a reflection for some of us older ones and the second one makes you realize just really how everything has changed. Some for the good and some for the bad. Hard to imagine students born in 1983 not knowing the commercial with the lady saying "Where's the beef! Have fun reading!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE 30 YEARS MAKES!

1972: Long hair
2002: Longing for hair

1972: The perfect high
2002: The perfect high-yield Mutual Fund

1972: KEG
2002: EKG

1972: Acid rock
2002: Acid reflex

1972: Moving to California because it's
cool
2002: Moving to California because it's
warm

1972: Growing pot
2002: Growing a pot belly

1972: Trying to look like Marlon Brando or
Liz Taylor
2002: Trying NOT to look like Marlon
Brando or Liz Taylor

1972: Seeds and stems
2002: Roughage

1972: Popping pills, smoking joints
2002: Popping joints

1972: Killer weed
2002: Weed killer

1972: Hoping for a BMW
2002: Hoping for a BM

1972: The Grateful Dead
2002: Dr. Kevorkian

1972: Going to a new, hip joint
2002: Receiving a new hip joint

1972: Rolling Stones
2002: Kidney Stones

1972: Being called into the Principal's
Office
2002: Calling the Principal's Office

1972: Screw the system
2002: Upgrade the system

1972: Disco
2002: Costco

1972: Parents begging you to get your hair cut
2002: Children begging you to get their
heads shaved

1972: Taking acid
2002: Taking antacid

1972: Passing the drivers' test
2002: Passing the vision test

1972: Whatever
2002: Depends

Just in case you weren't feeling too old
today, this will certainly change things.

Each year the Staff at Beloit College in
Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the Faculty a sense of the
mindset of this year's incoming Freshmen. The people who are starting
College this Fall across the Nation were born in 1983.
HERE'S THIS YEAR'S LIST:

They are too young to remember the Space Shuttle blowing up.

Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

Bottle caps have always been screw-off & plastic.

The CD was introduced the year they were born.

They have always had an answering machine.

They have always had cable.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They never took a swim & thought about Jaws.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who 'Mork' was or where he was from.

They never heard: "Where's the Beef?","I'd walk a mile for a Camel", or "de
plane Boss, de plane".

They do not care who shot J. R. & have no idea who J. R. even is.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Do you feel old yet? Have some fun & pass this on to the other 'Old Fogies'
in your life.


Thanks!!!

Becky
Beginning January 1, 2006, a Baby Boomer will turn 60 every 7 1/2
seconds--Are YOU ready?"

 

[EVELYN]

Lorraine

Thanks so much ......THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!

Evelyn

 

[hensylee]

Thanks so much for these. I have sent them along to assisted living where brother lives. This week was family night dinner and they read some of the things I have sent - including some of this. I try to give them something special that I learn from ya'll and they seem to appreciate it. God bless

 

[Mara]

Okay you guys are making me feel old and I only just turned 35. There is now a radio station in Indy that plays all '80's music. I remember joking that one day all the music we listened to in high school would be on the "oldies" station, I just didn't think it would be this soon!