Excerpt from the Book
OK - so this is what happened. Awhile back, I noticed how many times my friends and I kept talking about how things were different when we were kids. I know, I know - this is something that we all grew up with...our parents said this to us all the time. We've all heard the stories of how they trudged uphill through endless snow drifts, barefoot, to and from school; how they can remember the very first TVs they ever saw; how they all made do with a lot less than we have today. So - like most of us - I grew up thinking that they didn't know what they were talking about, and then - like most of us - I eventually became a parent and caught myself saying the same sorts of things to my kid and her friends.
Gradually I realized that I could recall a lot of experiences that - I thought - were different when I was a kid. Like, how we were lucky to get one "big" gift at Christmas (which we often had to share with our brother or sister); or, how we had to actually do chores - real chores - to earn our allowance... and if we didn't do them, we didn't get our allowance; and how whining never got us anything but a well-deserved swat on the rear end.
A lot of the things that kids have today - the toys, the endless options for entertainment, the door-to-door service from their soccer moms - are all so much more than I ever had growing up. But I've also realized that I had a lot of things that they don't have: like the need for pretending, imagining or makebelieve; I had the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation without interjecting multiple "likes" and "ums" and "you knows;" and I was able to pay attention to something for more than 5 minutes without it having to be extremely entertaining.
About the same time I was having these realizations, there seemed to be a rebirth of everything from the '70s. Whether it was music, hair, clothes, cars, styles, fashions, home decor... it seemed that I was seeing things from my past everywhere I turned. This just reinforced the idea that I had to start writing down all these thoughts. So, my thoughts turned into a little pile of notes and scribbles, and, well, then this book just kind of happened. I've found that I tend to write like I think. Be that good or bad, I hope that it's entertaining to you and helps you relive some of your fond childhood memories, too.
This book is my observations about how my life was when and where I grew up. Now, I know that we all lived different lives. There's a good chance that this won't be an accurate reflection of your childhood years if you grew up in a richyrich neighborhood, or if you grew up in the inner city of some metropolis. But, for the many of us who grew up in suburbia, Anytown, USA, my babbling may bring back some memories you can relate to - hopefully all good. By the way - I was a pretty good kid and didn't get into too much trouble, for which I thank my parents! I wasn't an angel, but you won't be reading about how my friends and I got drunk and lit a string of firecrackers tied to the cat's tail, or anything like that.
So - sit back, kick off your shoes, grab a grande mocha at Starbucks (now that, folks, is how you execute a shameless plug) and allow yourself to take the time to enjoy the memories of a simpler life.
