Memories

Today would have been my sister's 62nd wedding anniversary. Rest in peace Sissy & Johnny. I love you and miss you every day.

Christmas Presents

Jeff & Bill Keane always get it right on Family Circus!

Happy Christmas Memories to all.

Feelings

It is pouring down rain today. Perfect for the way I feel. I miss you, Mom. Feels like I dreamed you.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Happy Birthday, Johnny!

92 YEAR OLD PREACHER

While watching a little TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applausequieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium. Without a note orwritten paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak....

"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in mylife and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing thatI could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me... the only thing that would comfort was this verse.

"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong
we are weak but He is strong.....

Yes, Jesus loves me....
The Bible tells me so."

The old pastor stated, "I always noticed that it was the adults who chose the children's hymn 'Jesus Loves Me' (for the children of course) during a hymn sing, and it was the adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it the best."

"Here for you now is a Senior version of Jesus Loves Me":

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow.
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.

(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.
YES, JESUS LOVES ME,
FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.

(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song.
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."

(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love.

(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.

(CHORUS)

If you think this is neat, please pass it on to your friends. If you do not pass it on, nothing bad will happen, but you will have missed an opportunity to "reach out and touch" a friend or a loved one. God Bless Us All!!!-- Enjoy Nature...GOD"S Handy Work

Special Day

Today would have been my sister's 60th wedding anniversary.

Sadly, my brother-in-law passed away 4 years ago.

And my wonderful, funny, smart, fun-loving sister is slipping away into another world of her own where she can't remember who you are or where she is.

But I wanted to honor happier times here for her whether she knows it or not.

I love you, Sissy. ♥

Michigan Memories

What you should know if you live in Michigan

I got a chuckle out of this.... I remember too much that is here!! Fun to read (even if you don't live here)

From 1910 to 1920, Hamtramck, Michigan grew from 3,589 to 45,615 residents, leading the nation in growth for that period.

During the lumber boom era, the row of saloons that lined Water Street in Bay City was known as 'Hell's Half Mile'.

In 1936, Escanaba, Michigan harvested and processed 100,000 sq. ft. of birds eye maple to be used in the English Luxury Liner, the Queen Mary.

When the territory of Michigan was created on Jan. 11, 1805, Detroit was chosen as its capital.

Bagley's Corner was the original name of Bloomfield Hills.

The world's only marble lighthouse is located on Belle Isle. ( Livingston Lighthouse)

Hog's Hollow was the original name of Utica, Mich.

There are over 11,500 lakes in Michigan.

The home offices of Life Savers Candy, Beech-Nut Gum, and Squirt soft drinks are in Holland, Michigan.

In 1870, Detroit became the nation's first telephone customers to have phone numbers assigned to them.

Charles A Lindbergh was born in Detroit on Feb. 4, 1902.

The Stars and Stripes first flew over Michigan soil on July 11, 1796.

In Sept. 1908, William C Durant organized several independent automobile plants into what was to become General Motors.

Michigan began charging an annual license fee of 50 cents in 1915.

Michigan 's first police woman began walking the beat in Detroit in 1893.

In 1942, the Davison Freeway in Detroit was completed and became the world's first urban freeway. Then gas was 5 cents a gal. and some stations gave you a free 6 pack of glasses with a fill up!!!

The first soft drink,(Vernor's Ginger Ale) was introduced by a Detroit Pharmacist, James A. Vernor, in 1866. Note: There were several 'elixirs' on the market at that time, including what would later be called Coca Cola. These contained alcohol, whereas Vernor's didn't. Thus the name 'soft' drink.

The intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Avenue in Detroit proudly displayed the world's first traffic light in 1915; leaders of 19 countries and 26 States came to check it out in the first six months.

In 1688, Father Jacques Marquette founded the first permanent settlement in what would later become Michigan.

The world's first shopping mall (Northland Mall), opened in the Detroit suburb of Southfield in 1954. Newspapers from overseas as well as this country wrote that it would never catch on ...... Duh?

The world's first painted highway center lines were featured in Trenton, Michigan in 1911. They were used in other towns and was how Centerline, Michigan got its name.

Michigan ranks Number 1 nationally in the production of dog sleds!!!

The nation's largest indoor/outdoor museum complex is Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

Opened in 1904, the nation's oldest freshwater aquarium is the Belle Isle Aquarium (sadly, now closed).

The onion is Michigan 's largest fresh-market vegetable crop.

YOU'RE AN OLD DETROITER (OR JUST OLD) if ........

You took a 'moonlight cruise' to Bob-Lo with Captain Bob-Lo or went to Edgewater Amusement Park. And you could stamp your girlfriends name on the coin from the vending machine.

You shopped at Hughes and Hatcher, B Siegel, Peck and Peck, Himelhochs, Robert Hall, Crowley's, Shoppers Fair, EJ Korvettes or Federals.

You rode the elevator at J. L. Hudson's, which was 'run' by an elevator operator, who sat on a stool.

You remember a Winkleman's and Sanders store in your neighborhood. Ahhh, that hot fudge sundae!!!

You remember the 'Big Snow', Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody, Clarabelle, Phineas T. Bluster, Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring.

You remember Twin Pines Dairy delivered milk and juice to the chute on the side of your house and Milky the Clown performed magic with the magic words 'Twin Pines. Plus Browns Dairy with the horse drawn milk wagon.

You remember the Good Humor man in a white uniform, ringing the bells as he rode down your street, on his trike.

You remember Olympia Stadium. Home of the red wings.

You remember when Vernors was made on Woodward Ave, with the wood floor and wooden benches to sit on while your watching the bottles being filled. A great place to take your date after a movie! And a bearded gnome was on the bottle.

You also remember that Coca Cola bottles had the town it was bottled in embossed on the bottom of the bottle. The person with the farthest away bottle wins the bet!!

Your Mom got groceries at Great Scott, Food Fair, Wrigley's or Chatham.

Your Mom saved Holden Red Stamps, S&H Green stamps, or Gold Bell Gift stamps, and you licked them into those little books.

Kresgee's and Woolworth's were 'Dime Stores.'

Cunningham’s Drug store.

"I will meet you under Kerns Clock!!

Michigan, United Artists, Uptown, Broadway Theaters, and don't forget the National Burlesque "Theater"!!!

You had an uncle in the furniture business, (Joshua Door).

You know who Bill Kennedy is.

You saw the Detroit Lions play football in Tiger Stadium.

You remember The Faygo Kid & Black Bart and the Faygo song. Or how about 'Which way did he go? He went for Faygo, old fashioned root beer.'

You watched Rita Bell's prize movies in the morning.

You remember Jack LeGoff and Van Patrick. What about Betty Bahr and the weather?

You remember Milky the Clown, Soupy Sales, Johnny Ginger, Poopdeck Paul, Captain Jolly, Sagebrush Shorty and maybe even Sergeant Satko Salute.

You visited the Wonder Bread Bakery and got to take home a mini loaf of bread.

Your address had a two-digit 'zone' before there were zip codes. Detroit 19, Michigan.

And you had a Townsand or Twinbrook Ecophene exchange. Did you have a two or four party line? Ohhh a private line!! Rich people eh!!

You remember 'Get on the right track at 9 mile and Mack, to get the best deal in town. Roy O'Brien, it's the best deal in town.'

You remember a laundry chute and a milk chute and a coal chute.

How about the icebox and iceman??

A fridge with the coils on top?

How about a gas Fridge?

You remember going to Detroit Edison with your Mom to exchange burned out light bulbs for new ones, for free!!

Oh, the memories!

Ernie Harwell, 1918-2010

Rest in peace Ernie Harwell. You were loved.

Back to the Future

This is amazing.... awesome... just plain WOW! Make sure you read his descriptions. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/show/with/2346008881/

Things Remembered

This is for all who have ever been to the old Tiger Stadium. This beautiful stadium is no more. Torn down because no one loved it quite enough. Sigh.

BobLo - Moonlight Cruise

This is one of my favorite things from childhood and young adulthood. If you were a kid, there was nothing like BobLo Island -- rides and SO much fun. If you were young and in love, there was absolutely NOTHING like a moonlight cruise on the BobLo boat. Sigh.

Crafters Choice

I belong to a club called Crafters Choice. I have bought many things from them over the years. Software; books on gardening, getting rid of clutter (like THAT's going to happen), building 2 x 4 projects, and birds to name just a few; special pens; tools for engraving identifying marks on possessions. But a book caught my eye last month that took me back to about age 7 or so. So I had to have it. It came today. It's called "The Kitchen Linens Book" by EllynAnne Geisel. She also is the author of "The Apron Book."

This is a book about beautifully embroidered and embellished table linens, napkins, breakfast cloths, dish towels, sheets, pillow cases, etc. And the pattern on the front of the book was one that I had done on a set of kitchen linens for a lady friend of my Mom's. When I was about 7. I used to be really good at embroidery. Got paid money to do it. At a very young age. And now... I couldn't embroider if I tried. Isn't that a shame?

Of course, now I couldn't see to do those tiny stitches. And the hands would rebel even if I could see to do them. And I don't iron anymore unless it's a dire necessity. And the iron is a steam iron. Wonderful invention, that.

The young people today don't want to do things like that because you have to iron everything. And it takes time... and patience... But what a lovely, lovely art.

I can remember Mom and I sitting together working on our embroidery. She used to take in ironing to make money, too. I can remember helping her. I stood on a milk crate so that I could reach the ironing board. No steam iron there. You had to use a sprinkle bottle with a stopper in it that had holes for the water to sprinkle the laundry so you could iron the wrinkles out of it. Usually it was a Coca Cola bottle. Just the right size. We used to even iron sheets, pillow cases and towels. Some people even had us iron socks! I can remember sprinkling clothes and then rolling them up and putting them in a plastic bag and putting them in the ice box. Yep. Ice box. Not fridge. Ice box.

For just one minute, while telling this tale, I could see my Mom once again. She has been gone for many years, but for just one minute.... I could almost touch her.

1955

Comments made in the year 1955! (That's only 54 years ago!)

'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.'

'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2, 000.00 will only buy a used one.'

'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.'

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?'

'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.'

'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon.
Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.'

'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.'

'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas .'

'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.'

'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.'

'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet. It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.'

'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.'

'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes.
I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.'

'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.'

'There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel.'

'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood.'

'If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.'

Know any friends who would get a kick out of these? Pass this on!

Fender Skirts

A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like "curb feelers" and "steering knobs" (AKA suicide knobs).

Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember "Continental kits?"They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.

When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?"At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with "emergency brake."

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed."

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up to the house?

Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore - "store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy.

"Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "world wide" for granted. This floors me.

On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company. So we had all that talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply "expecting."

Western Movies

My favorite actors in my favorite films!

http://www.oldfortyfives.com/thoseoldwesterns.htm

The Cars We Drove...

I sure hope this is legal because this will take some of you back to a wonderful time. It sure took me back to a wonderful place in time.

http://thefiftiesandsixties.com/CarsWeDrove.htm

Created by OldBlueWebDesigns.com

Memories of Christmas

There is excitement in the air! Christmas will soon be here. I watch some people carefully count their pennies and decide what they can buy with what little they have, and I watch some people spend like money is no object. There are people everywhere pushing, shoving, grabbing, sneering; and there are some who just quietly move out of the "movers and shakers" way and then continue on when the rush has moved on.

Someone asked me today if I remembered what Christmas smelled like. Oh most definitely I do! The air smelled fresh and clean -- it smelled of snow. There were smells of pine trees (no one had an artificial tree when I was little). There were smells of wreaths, turkey, pumpkin pie, oranges and cloves that wafted through the air sometimes when you passed someone's house... and the smell of church and the candles from the midnight service when we would sing Silent Night and they would turn the lights off so that you sang by candlelight.

We didn't have very much when I was growing up. If we had a tree it was because it was the only one left in the lot and it was a "Charlie Brown" tree that no one else wanted. To me it was absolutely beautiful. There were construction paper ornaments, and ornaments that were given to us. The gifts were few.... I cherished every book, every puzzle, every pair of pajamas... I even still have some of the books and I have one puzzle that my Sister gave me. I even kept a yellow chenille robe that she gave me... of course it is so old that there isn't much left of it.

We might not have had much, but we had family; and those Christmases were absolute magic to me.

A Bit of Yesterday...

Another Step Back in Time...

I have no idea who put this together, but, it's wonderful! And Oh So True...

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,

Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,

Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,

We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,

And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'

And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,

And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,

And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,

Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,

And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T ,

And Oprah couldn't talk, yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,

At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,

And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,

And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,

Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,

And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,

And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,

And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,

And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,

And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,

We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea

Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,

And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,

And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,

And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to join AARP,

We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,

And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,

Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me.... Me.

Thanks, Gina!

I Am Hungry...

I work in downtown Detroit. I see a lot of things. Some make me angry, some make me sad, and some just amaze me.

Yesterday morning, someone in a car jumped a curb and pinned a man between a building and their car. I am pretty sure he died. I heard quite a few people say, "Oh, he was only a homeless person..." or "Oh, he was just a homeless person." This bothered me greatly. Everyone is a human being regardless of their situation. It really made me sad. (I have since found out that the man didn't die -- I also found out that the person in the car was a police officer on his way to work.... his license plate read "furious" -- nice, real nice.)

Then, at the end of the work day when I was walking to the garage where I park my car I could see that the crossing light was going to change so I slowed my pace. There is no point in trying to step up the pace when I know that I don't walk quickly enough to make it across the street before the light changes and people zoom passed in their vehicles lost in their own world with their booming music and their cell phones.

As I was waiting for the light to change in my favor a gentleman came up to me and said hello and that his mother had just died last week. Before you go, "Oh, I know what his game is," hear me out. This man was grown, probably in his late 40s or so.... and had the mental capacity of about a 12 or 14 year old. There are a lot of people like that downtown. They live in squalid apartments because that is all they can afford, and if they are mentally challenged and living with an aging parent, suddenly they are left alone to cope in a very cold world. He said he was hungry and hadn't eaten in two days. He also said he wasn't asking for money, just for someone to buy him something to eat. He was clean, and so were his clothes, so I knew he had been taken care of by someone. I felt so bad because I had to tell him I didn't have any money. Instantly he went from nice to calling me a b*tch among other things and said he was so hungry and walked away. I continued to wait for the light and I watched him walk up to several people who either walked a wide berth around him or just shook their head before he could say anything. He didn't keep walking, he stood in front of the gas station that is on the corner. They have pop and chips and sandwiches, milk, eggs, bottled water, and lots of things one could eat.

The light changed and I started across the street. I kept looking back and kept seeing people just ignore him or shake their head. I was almost to my car when I couldn't go any further. I turned around and with tears streaming down my face I went up to him. One could instantly see the shame on his face because he knew he had made me cry. He said, I'm sorry many times to me. I told him that if the gas station would take a credit card, I would buy him something to eat. He kept thanking me profusely. Instead of heading for junk, he picked out a carton of eggs, a pound of butter, bread, crackers, two sandwiches and then asked me if he could have toilet paper because he didn't have any. As he was putting his things on the counter, the line behind us grew. No one became angry, no one said hurry up, they were trying to figure out why I was crying. Then he asked me if he could have a cookie. Dear God in Heaven, something so simple as a cookie. Of course, I said yes. His purchases added up to quite a bit, but I didn't care. As I paid for them, he couldn't thank me enough. He just kept saying it over and over again.

You see, there was a time when my father had no income, no place to live and nothing to eat.... nothing to eat for days. I also remember quite vividly when I was little being without food, heat, lights. People think I make it up that I used to do my homework by a kerosene lamp. It's not a lie. We couldn't afford to pay an electric bill, so we had no lights. We couldn't afford to pay for the gas to be turned on so that Mom could cook on the small stove. There was no money to pay for a delivery of coal, so there was no heat. I've been there. I cannot ever say no to someone (or an animal) that is hungry.

I cried all the way home. I am still crying. The words "I'm hungry" are still ringing in my ears.