Way Safe. My mom had such high hopes for her fondue set. In the end, she went to bed upset and I went to bed hungry. My Barbies put the tiny forks to good use, though. And, basically, I've been marked safe from Fondue Night since 1976. Way safe. Alison Martino...
I don't remember people loving fall so much when I was a kid. Certainly, there were no pumpkin-spice lattes or other fanciful autumn drinks readily available in the 60s, 70s, 80s, or even 90s. I get a little queasy if I think about the mass manufacturing of the fall...
I hope life, treats you kind And I hope that you have all That you ever dreamed of...(Dolly Parton, I Will Always Love You, 1973) The experiences that form my early childhood memories are like a collection of 35mm slides stored in the carousel of my mind. Through the...
"We need a place just for us. It would be so secret that we would never tell anyone in the whole world about it." --From the Bridge to Terabithia, 1977. My cousins are posing with their bicycles in this photo from 1980. The original, which was taken by my father in...
Guest Post by Chloe Koffas The following blog post is from regular contribute Chloe Koffas. It first appeared on her blog, Light From A Pixel. Republished with permission from the author. Rainbow Connection For a short time, I lived in a small town in New Mexico...
As if the 1970s weren't dangerous enough for kids, Magic Mountain let children pet and sit atop a heavily sedated lion inside their "Enchanted Cottage" attraction. Named Major, the lion once starred with Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan. Magic Mountain opened in Valencia,...
I remember when my burdens rolled away; I had carried them for years, night and day. When I sought the blessed Lord, And I took Him at His word, Then at once, all my burdens rolled away. —Minnie A. Steele, 1908 My father's hands were always covered in black grease...
“If you put shame in a Petri dish, it needs three things to grow exponentially: secrecy, silence and judgment. If you put the same amount of shame in a Petri dish and douse it with empathy, it can’t survive.” --Dr. Brene Brown After Billy left home, I rode his old...
The following is an excerpt from My Life In Music: 1978, a post on the blog Imaginary Friends. That's a well-chosen name for a blog written by a Gen-Xer. Excerpt Gen-Xers, Mossley in Lancashire via Imaginary Friends In 1978 I was living with my mother and sister in a...
I used to be a public information officer (PIO) for a large ambulance service. Much of my job involved responding to media queries about "bad calls" that reporters would hear on police scanners. Every day I received dozens of calls about potentially horrible...
My father lived for roadside attractions along the rural byways of America. He loved to take Sunday afternoon drives and he loved to take long trips across the country. Born in 1930, he was a member of the Silent Generation. He grew up during The Great Depression and...
Oh thinkin' about all our younger years There was only you and me We were young and wild and free --Heaven, Bryan Adams (1983) Here are some memories I thought I'd share on this Memorial Day. This is a picture of Joe, a young Cold War veteran. The picture was taken...