DOWN MEMORY LANE

A Trip Down Memory Lane

A little house with three bedrooms
and one car on the street
A mower that you had to push
to make the grass look neat.
In the kitchen on the wall
we only had one phone,
And no need for recording things,
someone was always home.

We only had a living room
where we would congregate,
Unless it was at mealtime
in the kitchen where we ate.
We had no need for family rooms
or extra rooms to dine,
When meeting as a family those
two rooms would work out fine.

We only had one TV set
and channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them
with something worth the view

For snacks we had potato chips
that tasted like a chip,
And if you wanted flavor
there was Lawson's onion dip.

Store bought snacks were rare
because my mother liked to cook,
And nothing can compare
to snacks in Betty Crocker's book

The snacks were even healthy
with the best ingredients,
There was no label with a hundred
things that made no sense.

Weekends were for family trips
or staying home to play,
We all did things together
even go to church to pray.
When we did our weekend trips
depending on the weather,
No one stayed at home
because we liked to be together.

Sometimes we would separate
to do things on our own,
But we knew where the others were
without our own cell phone

Then there were the movies
with your favorite movie star,
And nothing could compare
to watching movies from your car.

Then there were the picnics
at the peak of summer season,
Pack a lunch and find some trees
and never need a reason

Get a baseball game together
with the friends you know,
Have real action playing ball
and no game video.

Remember when the doctor
used to be the family friend,
And didn't need insurance
or a lawyer to defend,
The way that he took care of you
or what he had to do,
Because he took an oath and strived
to do the best for you.

Remember when the country
was united under God,
And prayer in schools and public places
was not deemed as odd.
Remember when the church was
used for worshipping The Lord,
And not used for commercial use
or for some business board.

Remember going to the store
and shopping casually,
And when you went to pay for it
you used your own money.
Nothing that you had to slide
or punch in some amount,
Remember when the cashier person
had to really count?

Remember when we breathed the air
it smelled so fresh and clean,
And chemicals were not used
on the grass to keep it green.
The milkman and the bread man
used to go from door to door,
And it was just a few cents more
than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters
came right to your door,
Without a lot of junk mail ads
sent out by every store.
The mailman knew each house by name
and knew where it was sent,
There was not loads of mail
addressed to present occupant.

Remember when the words "I do"
meant that you really did,
And not just temporally
till someone blows their lid.
There was no thing as no one's fault;
we just made a mistake,
There was a time when married life
was built on give and take.

There was a time when just one
glance was all that it would take,
And you would know the kind of car,
the model and the make.
They didn't look like turtles
trying to squeeze every mile,
They were streamlined,
white walls and fins
and really had some style.

One time the music that you played
whenever you would jive,
Was from a vinyl, big holed record
called a forty-five

The record player had a post
to keep them all in line,
And then the records would drop down
and play one at a time.

Oh sure we had our problems then
just like we do today,
And always we were striving;
trying for a better way.
And every year that passed us by
brought new and greater things,
We now can even program phones
with music or with rings.

Oh the simple life we lived
still seems like so much fun,
How can you explain a game,
just kick the can and run.
And why would boys put baseball cards
between bicycle spokes,
And for a nickel red machines
had little bottled cokes.

This life seemed so much easier
and slower in some ways,
I love the new technology
but I sure miss those good old days

So time moves on and so do we
and nothing stays the same,
But I sure love to reminisce
and walk down memory lane.