The Golden Years

Sun Flowers

My favorite time of year used to be Fall.  Now I like Spring the best.

Maybe it's because the sun is out more during this time instead of the gray skies and the winter grunge still hanging over everything.   

Or maybe it has to do with what I experienced growing up.

I remember, as a kid, riding my bike down the street amid thick forests on either side of the road and very few houses.  The golden sun kissed me all over as I rode up and down, my hair streaming out behind me.

Every so often I would get off my bike and just stand, my head tipped upward, reveling in the sun's warmth and peeking at the pale blue sky with a few white puffy clouds.     

This was in 1951.   Just a mere six years after the end of WWII and people and families still trying to regain their footing and some semblance of order in their lives.

Life was simple back then.  Women stayed home and raised a family; the head of the house house got a job and worked all day, came home to a nice hot meal with everybody sitting around the table just waiting to talk about their day.

Meals began with a prayer of thanks for the food being presented and everyone bowed their heads.

People back then were grateful for peace as they had had 4 years of nothing but war from 1941 - 1945.
 
Public schools taught American History, Reading and Arithmetic.  Teachers were respected and there were very few disciplinary problems.  

Abortion was unknown; everyone attended church on Sunday; men tipped their hats to women; girls curtsied in front of their elders and boys saluted; men opened doors for women and they were  genuinely touched when a man presented them with a bouquet of flowers.

I remember the day we got our first television.  We all sat, cross legged, on the scratchy rug, looking up with wonder at the small screen and the pictures were very distorted and unclear.

The Howdy Doody Show starring Clarabelle the Clown were the favorite of kids.  

Women still hung clothes out to dry.   There were no clothes dryers or automatic dish washers and more efficient washing machines and refrigerators were just coming into existence.

We had a few neighbors who had fled Nazi Germany and resettled in the USA.  I remember our quiet next door family and the couple who lived across the street.

The neighbor lady across the street had an accent and the prettiest black hair I've ever seen that fell all the way to her waist.  I remember thinking she looked like someone from Romania.

I used to play with a girlfriend who lived not too far from our house.  Her name was Ruthie.  We had a lot of fun running and playing and just plain dreaming about life.

Time moves on.

We mature, marry, have families but can never forget the friendships and the memories we made while growing up.   

Just thought I'd share this with you.

     ~ Blessings,
            Nightshade