A little house with three bedrooms,
One bathroom and
one car on the street.
A mower that you had to push
To
make the grass look neat.
In the kitchen on the wall
We
only had one phone,
And no need for recording
things,
Someone was always home.
We only had a living room
Where
we would congregate,
Unless it was at mealtime
In the
kitchen where we ate.
We had no need for family
rooms
Or extra rooms to dine.
When meeting as a
family
Those two rooms would work out fine.
We only had one TV set
And
channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them
With
something worth the view.
For snacks we had potato
chips
That tasted like a chip.
And if you wanted
flavor
There was Lipton's onion dip.
Store-bought
snacks were rare because
My mother liked to cook
And
nothing can compare to snacks
In Betty Crocker's book.
Weekends were for family
trips
Or staying home to play.
We all did things together
--
Even go to church to pray.
When we did our weekend
trips
Depending on the weather,
No one stayed at home
because
We liked to be together.
Sometimes we would separate
To
do things on our own,
But we knew where the others
were
Without our own cell phone.
Then there were the
movies
With your favorite movie star,
And nothing can
compare
To watching movies in your car.
Then there were the picnics
At
the peak of summer season,
Pack a lunch and find some
trees
And never need a reason.
Get a baseball game
together
With all the friends you know,
Have real action
playing ball --
And no game video.
Remember when the doctor
Used to
be the family friend,
And didn't need insurance
Or a
lawyer to defend?
The way that he took care of
you
Or what he had to do,
Because he took an oath and
strived
To do the best for you.
Remember going to the
store
And shopping casually,
And when you went to pay for
it
You used your own money?
Nothing that you had to swipe
Or
punch in some amount,
And remember when the cashier
person
Had to really count?
The milkman used to go
From door
to door,
And it was just a few cents more
Than going to
the store.
There was a time when mailed
letters
Came right to your door,
Without a lot of junk
mail ads
Sent out by every store.
The mailman knew
each house by name
And knew where it was sent;
There were
not loads of mail addressed
To "present occupant."
There was a time when just one
glance
Was all that it would take,
And you would know the
kind of car,
The model and the make.
They didn't look like
turtles
Trying to squeeze out every mile;
They were
streamlined, white walls, fins
And really had some style.
One time the music that you
played
Whenever you would jive,
Was from a vinyl,
big-holed record
Called a forty-five.
The record player had a post
To
keep them all in line
And then the records would drop
down
And play one at a time.
Oh sure, we had our problems
then,
Just like we do today
And always we were
striving,
Trying for a better way.
Oh, the simple
life we lived
Still seems like so much fun,
How can you
explain a game,
Just kick the can and run?
And why would boys put baseball
cards
Between bicycle spokes
And for a nickel, red
machines
Had little bottled Cokes?
This life seemed so much
easier
And slower in some ways.
I love the new
technology
But I sure do miss those days.
So time
moves on and so do we
And nothing stays the same,
But I
sure love to reminisce
And walk down memory lane.
With all
today's technology
We grant that it's a plus!
But it's fun
to look way back and say,
Hey look, folks, That Was Us!