Ah for the dreams of a good life, dreams of doing things all ones life, for when I was a child on Saturday ma, she cleaned, washed and baked, but poppa, he enjoyed his Saturdays, garden, lawn, visiting with pals, and having a nip or two.

Yes, for ma and pa worked five days a week, and Saturday was chores, shopping and relaxing as if ma really knew what that meant.

Now Saturday night at our house meant taking a bath, heck we were one of the few houses in the village that had running water, so Saturday night meant a bath in the tub and listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio.

Then Sunday for ma and the kids it was church, for poppa didn't go to church other than three or four times a year. And on special Saturdays we went to town.

Now going to Bedford was not much, for it was small and that usually meant the dentist or doctor. But to go to Roanoke, that was really something for it meant getting to go to the S & W Cafeteria for lunch, and for we kids, seeing a movie. And sometimes if we were late staring home it mean stopping by the Roanoke Weiner stand and buying a large sack of hot dogs, those fantastic hot dogs with mustard, onions and chili, yes the only chili we knew about, and eating them for supper on the way home. For when we got home an all out effort was made to get the normal Saturday chores done.

Yes, in the summer it was fruit, and the garden and canning. Then in the wintertime it was chores and chopping wood, not as busy. But Sunday night was when we all sat down in the den and listened to the radio, for on Sunday night there were Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Red Skeleton and other classic radio programs. And boy I never thought I would ever learn to shoot caroms, although I could do OK at Chinese checkers and Monopoly. And Rook and Setback were the card games the parents played with friends.

Popping corn in the fireplace with those screen wire poppers, and trying not to catch it on fire? Making homemade candy? Taffy pulls. Does anyone these days, remember the days the days when families did things together and thought it was OK and normal to do so?

And you know all of the folks we knew and everyone else seemed to do about the same on Saturday; and as a child you looked forward to how you would spend your Saturdays, for no one ever thought of the �what if� you moved or didn�t find a job and live around here?

And then as I became a man, I found Saturday was the busiest day of the week because my wife frowned on working on the Sabbath, although I usually did. I remember early on, Saturday meant wash and wax the car, mow the lawn and do the �honey-dos�. The early years of our marriage we didn�t go to church for we were always moving, so we got two days to catch up, two days to not work overly hard.

And then we became affluent, we got a television, and that meant during football season we got one college game on Saturday and then one NFL game on Sunday. And for years even after the children were born, Sunday was sit around. Heck, even the wife would sit a spell too, and watch the NFL, usually with neighbor friends, and talk and laugh.

Those were the good old days, for the children would play, the wives visit and we would just sit, usually drinking beer and watch the game. But Saturday was the day of chores and yes, ma did have to do the wash, scrub the toilet and bathroom, clean house and do the weekly baking. And oh yes indeed poppa would wash the car, mow the lawn, and drink beer and watch a ball game.

But what was funny as my wife and I came into the 20th century our family still was the center of our life, and although our kids were into all the normal stuff, we still sat down, played games, and talked. At my house supper was sacred, and we sat down and ate as a family. Heck, even when the sons went off to college and would come home for a weekend and bring a girlfriend, they would make sure they were there for dinner and we ate as a family. And at meal time the television was off regardless of what was on. And what was funny the son�s girl friends seemed to like playing Parcheesi, or some board game. Matter of fact when the sons were in college, some time one of their ex girl friends would come over and play games with the wife and I on Saturday night.

Did you ever do any of these things? Did you live as a family and do everything as a family? And don�t you really feel sorry for the modern families? They never talk because the television is on all the time and momma never cooks and dad is too busy for the kids or his wife. Oh are they missing the simple and plain life I lived as a child.