Good Childhood Memories

At the Ocean Ranch there was a children’s hour where we played games like, “I see something that you don’t see and the color is…” and you got a free milkshake if you guessed correctly.  They also had a sand castle building competition.  Finally, we could order a burger from the restaurant and charge it to the room without getting permission first.  We thought that was the greatest thing ever

In Vermont, we distracted ourselves by going swimming in the pond.  There was a long wooden pier that we jumped off, and then we swam over to the canoe or rowboat that the Hall’s had at the pond.  Other attractions were playing in the barn and going to Grandma’s house for dinner.

 In Minnesota, we walked to Lake Minnehaha to swim.  It was probably too cold to get into the water but we did it anyway.  Also, we walked to the creek and played with the clay that made up the banks.

 Dad used to love to barbeque steak on the charcoal grill.  He had it down to a science, letting the meat marinate all day and then having the meat cook on the fire for a very specific amount of time.  He served it with French fried onion rings and it was the best meal that I ever had.

 Swim meets were a big deal while I was growing up. They were held at Plantation Country Club and we built tent cities underneath the bleachers where we would play cards while waiting for our events.  Mom made us jelly sandwiches on raisin bread that has a frosting on it.

 Dad’s favorite meal that Mom cooked was leg of lamb served with mint jelly and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  He liked to let the short cake to stew in the strawberry juice for a while so that it could soak up the juice.

 My father always kept catalogues of boats for sale on the table in the family room.  He always wanted a boat and the one picture where I think he was at his happiest was the one where he went deep sea fishing on a daylong expedition in the Gulf.

We raced home after school so that we could watch “Presto the Clown,” “Speed Racer,” and “Ultraman.”  On Saturday mornings, we watched “Lidsville,” “The Bugaloos,” “The Hudson Brothers,” “Sigmund the Sea Monster,” “The Land of the Lost,” and “The Banana Bunch.”  On Sunday mornings, we watched “Star Trek” at 11:00 and, while waiting for that television show to start, we watched old movies.  There was a rotation of “Abbott and Costello,” “Martin and Lewis,” “Shirley Temple,” “Tarzan,” “The Three Stooges,” and the old black and white monster movies like “Frankenstein,” “Dracula,” and “The Wolfman.”    

If the teachers at Holy Trinity wanted to show us a filmstrip then we would have to go to a special viewing room next to Principal Julie Anne’s office.  For example, we saw “Cree Finds the Way,” and “Jot” in that room.

 We used to walk up to the “Convenient” store, even if we didn’t have any money, and stare longingly at the “Icee” machine, wishing that we could buy some of that liquid sugar.

Dad was a serious poker player and he kept a jar filled with his winnings on his dresser.  Mom told us to go to their bedroom and grab a few coins when we needed lunch money.

Our grandparents drove through Louisville on the way back to Minnesota in their mobile home.  They parked it on Long Boat Key for the winter or drove it to Mexico.  The souvenirs that they bought back for us included maracas, hermit crabs, and Mexican jumping beans.

We all felt pure joy when we saw the spire of the Eifel Tower at King’s Island when our parents took us to the park during the summer.

We used to sneak downstairs after my parents had a bridge party so that we could eat the left over candy.

Dad used to stand on the front porch and whistle loudly to call us to dinner.  Mom would ring a bell.

On Saturday afternoons, Mom made grilled cheese sandwiches.  On Sundays, after mass, she made waffles.

ACBL had an annual picnic on the Ohio River.  They had ponies, Bingo, clowns, sack races, and a seemingly bottomless trough of Coke.  We were in heaven.

The neighborhood kids would get together to play “Ghost in the Graveyard,” “Hot Potato,” “Four Square,” and street volleyball.

Searching for salamanders under the drain and crawdads in the creek, and playing in the woods behind the Rowan’s house. 

Climbing the Morton’s tree, crawling through the sewer tunnel, floating down the creek when it flooded, swinging on the Helmeyer’s swing, scaling the wall in the Pfeiffer’s back yard, and jumping on the Rowan’s trampoline.