Some Nostalgia For the Golden Oldies

 THAT WAS US

 A little house with three bedrooms,
 One bathroom 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 Lipton'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.

 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 can compare
 To watching movies in 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 all 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 going to the store
 And shopping casually,
 And when you went to pay for it
 You used your own cash money?

 Nothing that you had to swipe
 Or punch in some amount,
 And remember when the cashier person
 Had to really count?

 The milkman 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 were not loads of mail addressed
 To "present occupant".

 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 out every mile;
 They were streamlined, white walls, 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.

 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
 Slower in some ways
 I love the new technology
 But I sure do miss those 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.

 With all today's technology
 We grant that it's a plus;
 But it's fun to look way back and say
 HEY GUYS, THAT WAS US!