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By Tom Fahey
When we were kids - we all dressed up for mass -
and we left feeling holy - still smelling the incense.
When we were little kids - the mass was said in mysterious Latin -
and we looked at the back of the priest.
When we were older kids - they spoke in English -
the priest facing us - staring at our sinful souls.
On Saturdays we would shuffle off to church -
and enter the little room - slightly bigger than a casket -
that smelled of Murphy’s Oil Soap - and adult transgressions -
saying the words “Bless me father for I have sinned…” -
and proceed to tell God’s messenger of all the misdeeds that a 10 year old can commit.
When we were kids - we were taught by nuns - who wore black and white habits -
who saw the world in black and white - who terrified us and made us learn -
or suffer the consequences of hell and damnation.
They would punish us with a ruler - and a paddle - and a twist of the ear.
But often when we got home our parent’s punishments were worse.
When we were kids - we road our bikes through Lakewood - and the valley - and beyond.
Exploring our world - running through back yards -
picking fruit from trees - left over from when our city was an orchard.
We played in the playgrounds - on the swings - on the slides -and on the monkey bars.
We played ball at the school playgrounds - pick up games -and CYO.
Our parents rarely came to the games like we do today.
We were left to our own devices - and inventions much of the time -and we made up creative games -
like “off the wall” - “buck buck” - and “king of the hill”.
We were sort of like the kids in the Peanuts cartoon - without an adult in sight.
When we were kids - born as we were - in the middle of the baby boom.
Our fathers - with memories of World War II - and the Great Depression.
Our older brothers and cousins and neighbors - went off to a place called Vietnam.
And we watched it nightly on TV - with Cronkite and LBJ - giving us the count -
them 209 dead - us 12 dead - and yet we were still losing.
When we were kids - television went from black and white to color.
And we watched Disney - and Martin Luther King - and a man on the moon -
and Jim Brown - and The Beatles - and we were amazed!
When we were kids - we heard Sister Madonna’s voice -
Telling us that John F Kennedy had been shot -
a few minutes later that he had died - and they dismissed us to go home -
and we shuffled back to our parents - who were sad - and had to explain to us -
why our leader - a fellow Catholic - had been taken from us.
And years later - his brother also was murdered.
And there were no answers.
We seemed like innocents in a time that has lost its way.
When we were kids - we had such dreams of greatness - and wonderful deeds -
of being more than what we were - of going past our own existence -
of achievements - and daring - and maybe even fame.
Most of those dreams - as most dreams do - faded away to wishes.
We moved on to the craziness of the teenage years - the striving of our careers.
Many of us raised families - and see the dreams of our children.
And we root for them so!
Today we are older and grayer - some are balder and fatter.
I might be a little wiser - but I don’t know for sure -
what I knew then for sure- when we were kids.
I know I am happy to be still alive -
with a spark of the spunk that I had back then.
With family and friends that I am there for -
and who are there for me.
Tonight is a night for us to look back -
and remember -
and wonder.
When we were kids - we were really something!
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