So
today is Easter. While I was sitting in church observing all of the families
and kids running around in their brightly colored Easter dresses, suits,
pressed and curled hair and fresh haircuts, I begin to think about the time I was
once that little kid. As the days of our lives speed by, it’s easy to feel like
we were born an adult. But on days like today, I miss those simpler times when
the biggest challenge I had to look forward to was finding the golden egg
during the Easter Egg hunt.
Other
things I miss from my childhood are:
Family cookouts: Whether they were in someone’s
backyard, the beach, or my personal favorite, Hannah Park, family cookouts were
and are the best. My fondest memory would be my dad and uncles on the grill while
my mom, grandma, and aunts were in the kitchen making the sides. My cousins and
I would run around outside and with the boom box blasting someone would
eventually start a dance contest. The grown-ups would try to get all of the
kids to do the latest dance moves, and then my Uncle Bruce would jump into the
Georgia Slop while Uncle Daryl would hit a split. Those were good times.
Short sets: Okay so if you grew up in the
South, you know about short sets, you probably owned a couple. They were
basically automatic outfits that you could get from the mall or more than
likely the flea market. Maybe I don’t miss those as much lol.
Honey drippers: These were the bomb during hot,
summer days. You can make them yourself or go to the nearest candy lady. They were
simply frozen juice in a cup and on a good day they would have fruit at the
bottom.
The candy lady: Speaking of honey drippers, as I
mentioned your neighborhood candy lady probably had an assortment of these.
Back during simpler times, a candy lady was a woman who sold candy, cookies,
chips, sodas and pickles to the all of the kids in the neighborhood. Our candy
lady was Ms. Jones. She was so old she was the candy lady even when my mom was a
little girl. After a day of playing, my cousins and I would walk to her house and
purchase all of the above. It’s amazing how much stuff we could get with just a
couple of dollars back then.
Wood Stock Park: This park was around the corner
from my grandma’s house. It was like any old park except maybe it was in the
hood, but it didn’t matter because we would have a good time. Men would play
basketball while women watched and the kids would see who could touch the sky
on the swings. Some of my best memories were when my grandma would take us to
the park and buy us ice cream, the kind that came in a plastic cup and had a
wooden stick for a spoon or my Uncle Robert would fix all of the kids lunch,
then we would all pile on the back of his pick-up truck and he would drive us
to the park.
Free summer lunches: Since school was out during the
summer, neighborhood associations would gather at parks and pass out free
lunches to all of the kids. The lunches were so good. They were just sandwiches,
fruit and chocolate milk.
Kick ball, freeze tag, hide and
seek, etc.: Back
before Wii and PSP, we would stay outside ALL DAY. It didn’t matter if we had
the latest toys and gadgets because we would manage to make up a game that was
just as fun. We would play kick ball in the middle of the street and freeze
tag, since I was the youngest I was always “It.”
Man,
those were the days. I can go on and on. Thanks for coming along with me on my
time machine to the past. What are things you miss from your childhood?
Ms. Jas
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