Growing up long ago...

I just got this email forward and felt this one was worth posting here. In reality, it wasn't as rosy as this but you get the picture. I love a little morning nostalgia...

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 Red Rover...Red Rover...
Playing kickball & dodgeball until the first...no...second...no...third Streetlight 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
Seeing shapes in the clouds
Endless summer days and hot summer nights (no A/C) with the windows open
The sound of crickets
Running through the sprinkler
Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom
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, 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
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 cream off the Good Humor truck

A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers
Jumpin' down the steps
Jumpin' on the bed
Pillow fights
Sleep-overs
A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were RICH

Runnin' till you were out of breath
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" in the classroom
Remember that?

Oh, I'm not finished yet...
Kool-Aid was the drink of the 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 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 McDonald's 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!"
Let's go back to the time when
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!!!