Memories

[traveller]

I grew up in a small town. Went to school with the same people for 12 years. Oh we had new kids come and go, but the core of us remained intact all that time. Problem with a small town is that everyone knows everyone and seems like they know what you're gonna do before you think of it yourself.

Every small town had a town square drug store back then. And all the drug stores had a soda fountain in 'em. They had a long counter with tall bar stools that you could sit on as you sipped your coca cola outta paper straws. Now, paper straws were the nuts really. 'Course, we didn't know any difference back then. The end of the straw would get all soggy and would eventually flatten out. You'd have to tear part of it off to continue using it. If you ever bent your straw you'd have to get a new one cause it'd wear out to where you couldn't get any suction. If you took too long to drink your soda you'd always have to have a second straw. I always did 'cause I'm a slow drinker. I'd sit there sippin and lookin. The drug store sold lots more than drugs. They had cool stuff like dishes and knick knacks and music boxes and toiletry items. Good drug stores even had those shaving brushes and cups. I remember buying cinnamon oil so that I could make my own cinnamon sticks. Stick a few toothpicks in the bottle, leave over night and instant sticks. Of course the drug store also sold the sticks readymade, but it was much cooler to make your own. That way you could get 'em as hot as you wanted.

I also remember when the first department store went up. We had a women's clothing store and a men's clothing store, but this one was gonna sell both gender's clothes in the same store. This was unheard of. The woment were mostly concerned about the changing areas. They wondered how they'd try on clothes with all those strange men walking around outside. I never really understood that because in a small town there really are no strangers. Anyway, the store was built and inventory brought in and all the townfolk had to go take a look. They sure did like it. And to top it all off, the place also sold shoes! You could buy a dress and match it up with shoes right there in the same store! That was a stroke of genious. Of course the women still gathered in the old women's only clothing store because they could get away from the menfolk. I heard lots of stories in that store.

Now - what are some of YOUR memories?

[ted]

One of my coolest memories was going to Loudon, NH for bike week. (weekend, really) I remember being a part of something that was fine by me, yet seeing Christian bikers that carried themselves like Christians, instead of simply caving in to the sin around them. Though I though they were kinda dorkey in that setting (this, of course was years before my Salvation), they showed a strength that I remember to this day.

t.

[Guest ILive4Him]

i remember my grandmothers house in the country, and how much fun it was to visit, she had a woodburning stove, no electricity, water came from a pump in the sink but of course there was an outhouse. i loved going to the woodpile for wood for gramma. I loved when she would bake bread. the smell was wonderful. She took me blueberry picking, the berries were close to the ground, not high bushes. i ate and ate! we would walk 3 miles to the beach. no one thought anything then of walking that far, even children. there just was no other way to get there.

I too remember the pharmacy with the stools and drinking through paper straws. yup, you had to drink fast before your straw turned to mush.

[refugepsa91]

I used to love going to the drive-in with my parents....Bambi was my favorite...although I did cry terribly. My favorite part was the ride home...I got to lay in the back window and stare up at the stars as we drove It just got better the closer we got to home...cuz I am from a small town too. So its really dark...no street lights or anything...just dark back roads all the way home...and so many stars you went crosseyed :wac:

Love and Blessings,

Angel

[Kay]

My favorite memories were Christmas at Granny's. SHe always had a real tree and even here in FL she had a fire place. The house was packed with cousins, aunts and uncles. Everyone cooking, decorating the tree that was cut down. Usually a tree top of some sort.

And Christmas morning we had to dress up in our best outfits before breakfast and opening the gifts.

Love

K

[Guest LadyC]

our town was too small for a drugstore. we had a post office though that kids would hang out in the parking lot of after hours. my memory of that? the local sherrif would come by and tell all us kids to not get busted for smoking pot when the deputy came around.

on the lighter side, i have fond memories of FREEDOM! something i could never afford to give my daughters. when i was their age (and younger), i would walk four miles down country roads every day to hang out with my friends every day. i would show up for dinner. my mom and dad never worried about where i was, who i was with, or if i'd made it there safely.

by the time i had my kids, i was too afraid of some wacko kidnapping them to let them walk four blocks, much less four miles, without me being by their side!!!

[ServingHim]

our town was too small for a drugstore. we had a post office though that kids would hang out in the parking lot of after hours. my memory of that? the local sherrif would come by and tell all us kids to not get busted for smoking pot when the deputy came around.

on the lighter side, i have fond memories of FREEDOM! something i could never afford to give my daughters. when i was their age (and younger), i would walk four miles down country roads every day to hang out with my friends every day. i would show up for dinner. my mom and dad never worried about where i was, who i was with, or if i'd made it there safely.

by the time i had my kids, i was too afraid of some wacko kidnapping them to let them walk four blocks, much less four miles, without me being by their side!!!

isnt' that the truth...Lord, grant us peace in the world we live in today. Amen!

[Born Again]

My favorite memories were Christmas at Granny's. SHe always had a real tree and even here in FL she had a fire place. The house was packed with cousins, aunts and uncles. Everyone cooking, decorating the tree that was cut down. Usually a tree top of some sort.

And Christmas morning we had to dress up in our best outfits before breakfast and opening the gifts.

Love

K

I LOVE Christmas memories!!!!! Gives me a warm feeling inside!

[IslandRose]

My grandparents lived in the mountains of West Virginia. Mom and Dad had moved to Ohio when they married, so going to Gramma's was always an adventure. Every summer, I would go spend several weeks there and my folks would come get me before the end of the summer. Mom's mother had died when Mom was four, and Grampa had remarried when Mom was 13 so she had seven much younger half brothers and sisters. The younger ones were only a few years older than me, so it was more like having cousins than uncles and aunts.

When I say "in the mountains of West Virginia", I am talking about way back in the "hollars". This is literally the area of the Hatfield/McCoy feuds. Mom went to school with both Hatfields and McCoys and Dad's best Army buddy was a Hatfield from his home town. There was electric power for lights, but it was unreliable, so the oil lamps were always kept ready. Cooking was done on a large wood burning stove. And what cooking it was. Grampa had a saw mill so Gramma fed all the men who worked for him every day at noon. There was always Roast Beef or Pork or Fried Chicken, or on left over day all three! Potatoes, biscuits and gravy cornbread, fried apples, green beans with bacon grease, corn, fresh tomatoes, coleslaw from fresh picked cabbage and carrots.........

Water was drawn from a well in the back yard. There was always a bucket tied to a rope to lower down to fetch water, and on a hot summer day, nothing was as cold or tasted as good as water from that well. No indoor plumbing at all. The toilet (read: outhouse) was across the dirt road by the cornfield. In the wintertime the weekly bath (you think I am kidding?) Was taken in the kitchen in a large wash tub. But in the summer, we would grab a bar of soap and a towel and head for the creek any day of the week. (Just watch out for the crawdads..those pinchers could getcha...if ya know what I mean....)

Of course there were chores to be done. I would follow my aunt around and help as I could. We would slop the hogs and gather eggs every day. Feed the chickens. And wash all those dishes. But then it was time to play.

There were small caves in the sides of those mountains that were perfect for playing house. Gramma didn't like us to play in the cellar house. I reckon she was afraid we would knock over a shelf of home canned corn, or beans or tomatoes. So we would pick up flat rocks from the creek and the tops of acorns and some moss from the side of the creek. That would be for plates and teacups and food. Sometimes we would go down to the sawmill and get a hand full of saw dust. You can make really good cakes from saw dust and creek clay.

The nights were quiet and nobody minded going to bed early. We were usually worn out from all the playing and chores. I would go to the kitchen to kiss Grampa good night. He was usually sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee listening to his beloved Cincinnati Reds on the radio. Then we would make a last trip across the street. ( A large Maxwell House coffee can was available if one had need in the middle of the night....) We would climb the rickety wooden stairs. There was only one room with several double beds. As the older girls grew up, they hung some old quilts from the rafters and made themselves a room of their own, but we younger kids were happy to be able to talk until we dropped off. The windows were left open to catch the breeze....no screens. The door downstairs was closed, but never locked, someone might need to come in in the night.

When Mom and Dad would take me back to Ohio, I had TV and indoor plumbing and bicycles. Boy, I would get homesick for Gramma's house.

[Guest LCPGUY]

Has to be, 1969, Greek Theater, Hollywood, Neil Diamond.

It was warm. The sky was clear. It was magic. Hot August Night Concert. I was there with my fiancee. My first love.

The sun set. The pink and blue lights came on. The violins started softly. Then the soft drums came in. My baby and I held hands. We gazed into each others eyes. The trees the sky, the night was awesome. Then the drums came a little louder, the violins picked up in intensity. There was magic in the air.

Then came Neil