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    Headstall
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The content presented here is for informational or educational purposes only. These are just the authors' personal opinions and knowledge.
Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are based on the authors' lives and experiences and may be changed to protect personal information. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Headstall's Reflections - 74. Chapter 74: Sixty-five

Milestones....

***

 

Sixty-five

 

I remember cap guns

That killed imaginary bears

And hockey games

With sharp metal men

Lincoln Logs

And Tiddly Winks

Playing with G. I. Joe

And Raggedy Andy

Times with dolls

To please my six girl cousins

Who lived across the street

On a fantastical farm

With barns and pig pens

And the hen house

Where warm eggs waited

For us

Molasses sandwiches

And bologna ones

With mustard

I remember long days

In the woods

Building forts

And running from hornets

To no avail

So many close calls

That still scare me

Movies that cost a quarter

Westerns and musicals and mysteries

And my tongue stuck

On a dare

To a frozen metal post

I remember heavy phones

And party lines

With Gladys Best listening in

To every call

There were stories from my grandmother

Both of them

And scowls from my father

Both of them

And tears from my mother

Lots of them

I used to share

But happy tears came

With each of my children born

Watching them grow

Each so individual

Each so special

Each so good

There are lifetimes

In my mind

Mine and others

And I have to look back

To keep me moving forward

Because in conclusion

I am a fortunate man

... Happy Birthday to me

 

 

 

*

Thanks for reading an old man's trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoyed it. Cheers... Gary....
Copyright © 2017 Headstall; All Rights Reserved.
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The content presented here is for informational or educational purposes only. These are just the authors' personal opinions and knowledge.
Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are based on the authors' lives and experiences and may be changed to protect personal information. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

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12 minutes ago, Bard Simpson said:

Wonderful memories of a healthy country upbringing surrounded by family. You are indeed very fortunate G. As with all good things, you've been able to share that with others .

I Did smile at your tongue being stook to the frozen post though. I'd only ever seen Jeff Daniels do that before :gikkle:

:kiss:

Yes, I am fortunate. Lots don't make it this far. :(  I just had to do it... we were on our way back from the movie theater, and there was a metal post on the bridge. Learned a big lesson that day, and lost a little skin. :P 

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Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Bir-th-daaaay to Youuuuuu!! Happy Birthday to you! 🥂

Now you've done it!!!! 😂  I turned 65 at the end of April and I've been going down memory lane a lot since then. Is that the automatic response to reaching that age? LOL.  The memories you stirred up....'heavy phones'.  My parents still had one up until about 10 years ago when the phone company said that it had to go cause the new digital wiring wasn't compatible with it. I told my daughters that that phone could be used as a weapon. I grew up here in Atlanta GA but back then, they allowed chickens in the city and the man next door had chickens and a homicidal rooster, so I remember warm eggs. They really had a different taste didn't they. And 25 cent movies and Saturday matinees watching Godzilla and the Three Stooges. Whenever I hear Moon River, I think about sitting on our front porch watching lighting bugs and stroking my black cat, Midnight.  (deep sigh). Now I've got gray hair and aching knees and hips! HaHa..ouch..Haha.  But we're like a fine wine that just gets better with age. birthday cake GIF

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27 minutes ago, LadyDe said:

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Bir-th-daaaay to Youuuuuu!! Happy Birthday to you! 🥂

Now you've done it!!!! 😂  I turned 65 at the end of April and I've been going down memory lane a lot since then. Is that the automatic response to reaching that age? LOL.  The memories you stirred up....'heavy phones'.  My parents still had one up until about 10 years ago when the phone company said that it had to go cause the new digital wiring wasn't compatible with it. I told my daughters that that phone could be used as a weapon. I grew up here in Atlanta GA but back then, they allowed chickens in the city and the man next door had chickens and a homicidal rooster, so I remember warm eggs. They really had a different taste didn't they. And 25 cent movies and Saturday matinees watching Godzilla and the Three Stooges. Whenever I hear Moon River, I think about sitting on our front porch watching lighting bugs and stroking my black cat, Midnight.  (deep sigh). Now I've got gray hair and aching knees and hips! HaHa..ouch..Haha.  But we're like a fine wine that just gets better with age. birthday cake GIF

Hello, Milady!  I've had a great day, and this is definitely a highlight. :D  I love, love, love that you understood my references. We used to run into my aunt's house with the eggs we collected, and she would make us scrambled eggs on the wood stove, with homemade bread toasted on a rack over the same stove. And I remember vividly sitting on our back porch, just like you did, and watching the fireflies. My cat was named Topsy, and she moved so many different places with us before she... disappeared the final time. I've got the grey hair and all the aches too, but we have our memories, don't we? My mom used to play Moon River on the record player after we kids went to bed, in our tiny house in New Brunswick, and I used to lay there and listen to it and others until I fell asleep. I remember in later years she became a Charlie Rich, Charlie Pride, and Eddy Arnold fan, and I knew every word of those songs. :)  Thanks, LadyDe, for being a wonderful part of my birthday. :hug: 

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2 hours ago, flamingo136 said:

Happy Birthday Gary.......This is what life is all about.....memories.......I really needed to remember that lesson this week......Thank you, my friend.................Mike

Thank you, Mike. :hug:  I have spent the weeks leading up to this milestone birthday, even on the actual day itself, concentrating on health issues... that has been my lesson... to take better care of myself. I treasure my memories. They make us who we are, and that doesn't stop at any certain age. I'm still the same person I was at sixteen. Only the cover has changed, and possibly, some wisdom has been added. :)  I'm pleased this one came in handy for you. Take care, my friend. :hug: 

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:kiss::hug::wizard:
Happy Birthday dear G-Man!  I've got four more to go until that big day comes, but I smiled and laughed at so many of your memories just like mine.  We had many of the same toys except the Raggedy Andy, though I remember my older sisters having Barbies.  I dunno, but I can recall the old game Mystery Date where you opened this little door to see a pic of your date--I didn't let on to my sisters while playing that I liked the pics....Hmm, now that I think on it, maybe that was when I began to think about boys?  That was when I was eight or so.

I liked the music my sisters did: Herman's Hermits, Monkees, Beach Boys, even some Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.  My mom liked country then, and I didn't like it, though I did like her bluegrass records.  My dad never seemed to listen to music, but I figure he had an interest in Big Band since he grew into his teens in the 30s.  I like that style too.

Oh yeah, nights in the country smelling new-mown hay, the sound of crickets and frogs at night...alas, being chased by yellow jackets until they got me in the back.  I had many lunches as a kid with the two elderly sisters on their farm across the street--often hamburgers and apple sauce and buttered bread, served on their green Depression glass plates.  Hmm, another sign of my eventual fate?  Gotta love antiques, and I have some Depression glass plates and things in both green and pink...but I have my mom's Oriental Gardens china with a pagoda and stream on them that I grew up with--and I got enough pieces from sources online to expand it for twelve...
Holy crap...I must be gay!  :P 

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On 12/5/2019 at 12:32 AM, ColumbusGuy said:

:kiss::hug::wizard:
Happy Birthday dear G-Man!  I've got four more to go until that big day comes, but I smiled and laughed at so many of your memories just like mine.  We had many of the same toys except the Raggedy Andy, though I remember my older sisters having Barbies.  I dunno, but I can recall the old game Mystery Date where you opened this little door to see a pic of your date--I didn't let on to my sisters while playing that I liked the pics....Hmm, now that I think on it, maybe that was when I began to think about boys?  That was when I was eight or so.

I liked the music my sisters did: Herman's Hermits, Monkees, Beach Boys, even some Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.  My mom liked country then, and I didn't like it, though I did like her bluegrass records.  My dad never seemed to listen to music, but I figure he had an interest in Big Band since he grew into his teens in the 30s.  I like that style too.

Oh yeah, nights in the country smelling new-mown hay, the sound of crickets and frogs at night...alas, being chased by yellow jackets until they got me in the back.  I had many lunches as a kid with the two elderly sisters on their farm across the street--often hamburgers and apple sauce and buttered bread, served on their green Depression glass plates.  Hmm, another sign of my eventual fate?  Gotta love antiques, and I have some Depression glass plates and things in both green and pink...but I have my mom's Oriental Gardens china with a pagoda and stream on them that I grew up with--and I got enough pieces from sources online to expand it for twelve...
Holy crap...I must be gay!  :P 

I'm getting old... sorry I missed this, CG. :unsure2:  You are still a spring chicken as my mom used to say. :P I don't remember my cousins having Barbies, but they each had a special doll of their own. 

My mom liked country music too, like Charlie Rich and Charley Pride, and Eddie Arnold. But she also liked a lot of other music. She had an affinity for Elvis because they shared the same birthday. :) 

It still amazes me how much we have in common... my hornet adventure had me almost dying, and some of my best memories were involved with the farm across the road. I too have some green depression glassware, though I gave most of it away to my daughters. And we used to have Oriental gardens china as well... I think it was a gift from my grandmother, but I could be wrong. Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me, my friend. And yes, you are surely gay. :P  Love ya, CG... cheers... G-man. xoxoxoxoxo

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