Oh the life of yesteryear… We might not all have the same background - and I hope you enjoyed your stomping grounds… but damn daddy has “my town” changed…
Oh the physical structure of the East sidea town has remained virtually the same…and every fourth trip to the Piggly Wiggly you’re stopped in an aisle to visit with an old “townie” - but progression has hit us…. “Don’t stand in the way of progress” I know I know. But ain’t it Ok to have an opine about it? Well, this opine is my new town sucks!
Victor, is this another bitch and moan blog? Eh mebbe… but it too is reminiscing about yesterday - and the beauty, simpleness of it all..
You’d wave at every other car from the one lane (each way) road… You could have an “account” at the grocery store… As a teenager, the taxi driver would take you both ways - and not pickup the check from mom (no ID needed) until when they returned you home on the 2nd legga the trip…
Teachers knew every student’s name in the whole school… students knew every student’s name in the whole school… You could whisper the words “party at Robert’s tonight” and by 7pm there’d be forty cars parked in front. And, of course, one mom would find out about it, and their whispering chain was just as fast as ours…
Ya let ur kids galavant across town on foot and didn’t think anything of it.. Houses actually had screen doors that were actually used.. A traffic jam meant ole’ Bittner was en route on his John Deere to mow on the West sidea town…
There were town characters - most striken mentally - but townsfolk treated them as royalty… A ‘text message’ was a folded note passed in deathly fear the teacher would catch you passing it..
Kids knew friend’s parents well… parent’s knew kid’s friends well… Everyone attended the high school football games… Everyone lined the streets for homecoming..
New neighbors got chocolate cookies… New kids in schools got “hey.. Welcome to Liberty.“ Church’s passed the hat for a member who was perhaps down and out… A fist fight was a fist fight… Being inside near the fan or the AC in the summer wasn’t fancied - it was out and about every day/night - and unorganized games were organized…
Families ate together. Families watched the favorite TV shows together.. You didn’t ‘text’ your mom to tell her you’d be late.. You called, took a big gulp, and explained (and apologized).
We hurried, but only to get out of the rain. The Johnson’s getting a visit by their cousins from Arkansas was fodder for the newspaper… You got a smile and a windshield wash with a tanka gas…
Dogs ran loose, and somehow we survived. My parents are gone now - and I hope I told my father thanks for landing where he landed us in 1961... Can you read blogs from heaven?
Tonight I took my son by the bank. He’d gotten a combined $92.33 from Uncle Sam, and from the State of Missouri. He’s 21, doesn’t have an account there, and they wouldn’t cash them. “Could you just deposit them in my account and I’ll pay him the cash?” No sir, we can’t do that. Russell, at the old Commercial bank woulda put his arm around my son, given him a cold bottle of Pepsi - and he’da had crisp new bills to handover.
No, I won’t stand in the way of “progression” - but doesn’t mean I have to like it. Call me an old fogey if you like… I kinda like the feel/sound of that.
Tonight, as I took the new Southern access 4-lane road into town - I was going about 45 MPH in a 45 MPH zone.. I saw two deer, a wild turkey, a gorgeous female jogger in red shorts, blue top, Boston Red Sox ballcap, admired how nicely mowed the Our Lady of Mercy yard looked.. And listened to all of Ray Charles “Tell me what I say.”
Sixteen cars passed me at speeds ranging from 50 to 60 miles per hour. They didn’t see nonea that shit. Must be new to my town.
Close your eyes often and think of yesteryear. Not all will ever fade - but memories do - so let’s help to preserve them. Happy happy, love, Victurd.
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