I love having come from a generation of simple things and a slower pace. Maybe it feels that way to everyone because youth just gives you that ability to savor all the life and events going on in your own space of time. I treasure the times I could stroll with my mother down our main street. I still remember holding on to her pinkie as her car keys were in the same hand. I even had to reach up to make that grasp. I swear she had the longest legs - probably because of my child size view. She always made me feel so special when we had our time together - I was the only one not in school (I was the youngest of four siblings), so I was privileged to spend whole days with her. But, I savored most the days we went to "town". Walking the wide sidewalks and looking in the magnificently decorated store fronts. Nearly always seeing the organ grinder with his little monkey in front of the corner drug store. I loved the sound my feet made on the worn wood floors of Woolworths and Newberrys... pad, pad, pad, squeak, pad, pad. I can still hear the whoosh of the money being sucked away in those pneumatic tubes in J C Penny's. And those cherished moments when she would sit me up to the lunch counter in Newberrys and order me a grilled cheese sandwich! Wow! Having lunch with my MOM at a lunch counter made me feel so BIG! Her grilled cheese sandwiches were really much better, but these were a TREAT! I loved the waitresses with their crisp aprons and lacy hankies pinned on their chests. They always made a fuss over me. And then always before we headed home, she would stop in front of the candy counter and let me pick something to have bagged to take with us. That smell! CHOCOLATE! It wafted up and down the asiles and landed right smack in the middle of my nose! Aaaaah. Behind that huge glass case so many to choose from - little squares of chocolate with teeny tiny bits of coconut in them, chocolate covered raisins, chocolate stars, chocolate drops with fruity creamy filling, bridge mix with those huge chocolate covered brazil nuts in there, and chocolate peanut clusters - o,my! I was always drawn to the chocolate stars. (I still love them and buy them when I can find them.) Oh, how I miss my MOM.
Have you taken a stroll down your childhood Main Street lately? Fun memories - there are lots of others waiting for a new day - new post. Muse on...
2 comments:
OK, so it's taken forever for you to post...but let me tell you, it was well worth the wait! It made me smile and made me sad at the same time, if that makes any sense. I miss you MOM too!!! So much! You are such a writer...you always have been and I look forward to many more words from you!! Hi to your bros and sis's and hugs too!
That's what I like about my town (McKinney, TX). There's an old, historic Square downtown lined with storefront antique shops, restaurants, and such. We've got both the old, the new, and a fusion of the two. I think a lot of people long for that nostalgic, Normal Rockwell America.
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