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Barbara Kincaid (Menken)
THE POEM THAT ONCE 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 worked out just 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 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 drive a truck
And 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 “skirts”,
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,
To find a better way.
Oh, the simple life we lived,
Still seems like so much fun.
How can you explain the game,
“Just kick the can and run?”
And all us boys put baseball cards
Between our 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 look, guys, THAT WAS US!
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