Remember eating watermelon on the seawall.
The slices were bigger than your arm,
The luscious pale ruby juice running down your elbows,
Licking sticky fingers all the way home.
A million mosquito bites -
Remember when girls wore one-piece bathing suits - some with skirts.
Remember when there were only two types of sneakers
One for girls (Keds) -
One for boys (PF Flyers).
But the only time you wore them at school, was for gym.
Remember when girls couldn't wear pants to school,
And boys couldn't wear jeans...
Remember your first "buzz" cut?
Butch wax - Wildroot Cream Oil -
Brill Crème - "... a little dab will do ya..."
Summertime.
Remember the beginners' band classes -
Sitting under the oak and pecan trees behind Sacred Heart Academy
Professor Carpenter patiently correcting all those bad notes.
Remember ...
When sidewalk skates either rusted away or dripped with 3-in-1 Oil.
... buying another skate key from Elzey's Hardware.
Remember...
When you discovered Mom's clothesline made a great Crystal Radio antenna?
... At least until she hung out the laundry.
When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up -
If you were lucky enough to have one.
And when the weather was good, you actually enjoyed
Watching Channel 6 from New Orleans.
Remember...
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
When nobody owned a purebred dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter - a miracle.
When milk went up one cent and everyone talked about it for weeks?
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then.
Remember when your Mom wore nylons that came in pairs
And often "ran" before the week was out!
Remember your first date - and the chaperone who came along.
Remember the auto service stations ...
Texaco, Sinclair, Standard, Esso --
Where you got your windshield cleaned,
Oil checked, and gas pumped,
Without asking, by a team of men in uniform
For free, every time.
Where air and road maps where courtesies -
And, you got green stamps to boot!
Remember when boxes of laundry detergent
Came with free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
When washing machines had legs and wringers
And refrigerators had drip pans.
When children were "seen and not heard".
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries,
and nobody - not even the kid - thought a thing of it.
Remember when it was considered a privilege
To be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.
Remember "good manners",
Proper introductions,
Cutting in on the dance floor.
Being home by 10.
Remember your first suit,
And the tie that never "worked right".
Your Senior Prom Date...
Remember when all the men teachers wore neckties
And the women teachers had their hair done - everyday.
Remember when teachers threatened
To keep kids back a grade if they failed ... and did!
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing --
Compared to what waited at home.
When respect for "grownups" was the rule - and not the exception.
When doing drugs was taking St. Joseph's orange-flavored asprin.
My oh my!
How things have changed!
Time passes..
People depart...
Places are no longer.
But remember - always...
Those precious times gone by.
Yes, thank God for the memories to remember.
Dedicated to all the cherished people of my past.
Their numbers are bountiful.
Ever at my side: to enlighten, to guide, and to console...
Fred J. Klein III
March 16, 2002