FLASHBACK FRIDAY: “And that's the way it is, March 25, 2011."

Mainly local television brought our news…we had a whopping ‘3’ channels…in black and white. 

Stop laughing, we thought we were the house to visit because we HAD a TV. 

My Daddy’s favorite newscaster was Walter Cronkite with his AMAZING voice and on-screen respect for those he covered.
For those who have never seen/hear Walter, he ALWAYS closed his coverage by saying "And that's the way it is" followed by the date, hence my title for today.

Subscribing to the newspaper was also something my Daddy did…unfortunately, we only had ‘1’ and it was rather skewed on the local news (something I later found out).  However, I loved reading the comics, they were in COLOR!  I know, how did they do that? 

A Sunday didn’t pass without my using my silly putty to flatten and get a ‘copy’ of FAMILY CIRCUS by Bill Keane...like this (i think this is an incredible CAKE)

Occasionally my parents would turn off the TV was ‘rough’; but that didn’t happen a lot then, so most of the news was discussed out in the open.  Fright did come a few times by local news events of rioting or discussions of war.  Daddy spoke out quite often about his opinions on both subjects, some of which I grew to understand and others still confuse me .

Presidential visits to cities back then were MUCH bigger than they are viewed today; so, we would attentively watch as President Kennedy would parade through the city he was visiting. 

His assassination will always be in my memory as well as his funeral; I was the same age as John John, and I remember standing in front of the TV saluting with him. 

Somehow BLACK and WHITE truly matched that moment in time, giving it the somberness and respect it deserved while we as a nation TRULY grieved.

One of my even though I was writhing in pain and majorly dehydrated from a day on the beach as a toe-headed white kid favorite remembrances in the news:  "I'll never forget July 21, 1969: While lying on the bed in our hotel room in Myrtle Beach, SC (we did hot have sunscreen then) my mother was slathering on NOXZEMA onto my blistered backwhile I was entranced watching Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong announce and take his first steps onto the MOON.


The crackling of the voice transmissions along with the fuzzy black and white pictures coming across the TV AMAZED me…"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."   I heard those words live as they were occurring.

(side note: My grandmother NEVER came to believe they truly went there…she thought it was all a hoax just to give the Kennedy Whitehouse a leg up on Russia)

Those words will live in my memory forever…that moment totally intrigued the ‘techy’ in me.  Years later I visited our local science museum and awed over the moon rocks and the ‘copy’ of the lunar module.  I was EVEN MORE intrigued in Washington DC to visit the Smithsonian Air&Space Museum where I saw the actual water-landing capsule.

Probably one of my biggest personal moments:  In the late 1980's I worked as a telecommunications industry executive secretary and Retired Col. Frank Borman (Apollo 8) was on our board of directors. 

His biggest fame came on December 18, 1968 when he was commander of NASA’s Apollo 8 (earth's first close-up view of the lunar surface/dark side of the Moon)

 

It’s fun remembering the days I handed him coffee, just said ‘hello’ or stood closely by as he sat at my desk while calling his home office.

(He was smaller than me but he was a GIANT in my memory.) 

Times dear to my heart, for sure.

Come join in @ Mocha w/ Linda…I want to hear about your memories.

FLASHBACK FRI...A TOTAL WRECK

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance @ my giveaway here... 

                           
TODAY WE'RE thinking

 primarily of our growing-up years of DRIVING:  Around the age of 24, a driver in front of me had stopped.. then started again when merging onto an expressway.  Suddenly she STOPPED AGAIN!  No one was coming from the left but my foot had already gassed it before seeing her tail lights. Crunch!  There were no cell phones to call the police.  

The first traffic ticket?  Oh, it was about 50 feet passed a stop sign in front of my boyfriend's church, hahahah!  Truly.  Being sixteen and having my Mother in my passenger seat actually made it easier.  She agreed I had stopped, but the 'new recruit' policeman said,

'Young lady, Did you realize that was a real stop sign you just ran?  You did not make a 3-second, 4-wheel stop?'

He made that statement just after tapping on my window with his 'billy stick'...yep, to get me to roll down my window.

"guess I looked back a 'gang banger' in my silver-blue Beetle with my Mother."     (he didn't show in court; the judge gave me a warning and $25 court costs.)   So there, Mr. Rooky, sir.  

One of our youth was killed a few years back in an fiery highway accident with a transfer truck.  This changed many lives in many ways, and we will never forget him...

(He was so sweet and helpful...always my 'strong arm' helping with boxes of pizza or other food.)

Before babygirl was born, we witnessed a motorcyclist t-bone a car (who ran out in front of him), flying over two cars and landing in front of us.  Thankfully, Hubs was a 'Red Cross' first responder and knew exactly what to do...holding the cyclist down until the ambulance got there.

(The really scary part:  He had just dropped off their 5yo daughter at grandpa's house before getting hit). 

Seat belts weren't involved in riding in a car until my teen years.  I would roll myself up in a ball in the backseat floor board, listening to the tires on the myriad of pavements as we would traveled to Florida for family vacations. 

(Maybe I need to do that on hormonal nights when I can't sleep; maybe hubs would be willing to drive me around while I lie in the backseat floor board!)

Come join in at MOCHA WITH LINDA...I want to hear your adventures.

GoodNightSleepTightPleasantDreamsSameToYou FLASHBACK

What was bedtime like when you were growing up? 9pm until 16yo

...your parents strict in enforcing bedtimes? yes

Were you a difficult one to get to bed? yes, i was afraid i'd miss something...

Did your parents share stories about getting you to sleep when you were a baby? i always slept w/ my big sister

When did your parents turn bedtime over to you? 16yo...i could stay up until 11 if i wanted...usually I didn't want to

Were there any special rituals/routines a parent did - books, singing a special song, etc.?  Nighty kisses, I would hug them and kiss them goodnight

Nightlights, music, special doll/blanket or other things? nighlights for a while; don't remember when they stopped

Did you have your own bed or did you share with a sibling? shared until she got married when I was 13yo

Did you have nighttime fears and bad dreams? Yep, the Jolly Green Giant was always chasing me and I'd hide many places...I never could figure this one out...I loved the JGGiant.

How did you handle them? Mother would come in an calm me if she heard me crying...

Did you ever walk or talk in your sleep? yep, quite often.  I'd take my pillow and go into the bathroom and put the seat down on the toilet...she often found me sitting there saying something, but my Mother never knew what I was saying...she'd walk me back to bed.  I never remembered it the next mornings...guess I was physically running from the Giant again, hahahah.

Feel free to also share any routines you have done with your kids.

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." 
Blessings,

FLASHBACK: sunday-school style

Did your family attend church when you were growing up?

Mother always ensured my sister and I went with her to church each Sunday, and I ALWAYS accompanied her to Wednesday-night choir practice. I still LOVE singing.

What are your earliest memories of church?

Mother would 'threaten' to pinch my thigh with her thumb and first finger when I was not properly sitting still or threatening to become louder.

Thank goodness she didn't have to pinch me, i'm sure i would have squealed from the force of her two-finger vice!

Did you attend VBS (Vacation Bible School) when you were young?

Memories don't come back to me about VBS, so I don't believe we attended it if it was happening at our curch.

Sunday School was on our radar, and we weekly ENDURED the little lessons from the HIGHLIGHT-esque pamphlets provided by the church leaders. We RARELY got original lessons provided by the Sunday School teachers.

Today's lessons for children and teens are MUCH better at involving and getting feedback from the children

Was faith a Sunday-only thing or did it impact your life and the things you did?

Our life was very definitely impacted by our faith walk and decisions of what to do. Our parents greatly cared about our influences and they wonderfully provided a safe environment for us at home, school and church.

Our understanding of 'right' and 'wrong' were strengthened from the lessons at church and in our home...there are consequences to our actions and our responsibility is to remember what we learned and follow in that way. Such simple yet important lessons that take you a LONG way to a successful adulthood.

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."Blessings,

FLASHBACK FRIDAY, food thoughts

click the button above to READ ALL THE CONTRIBUTORS :)

What were meals like when you were growing up?

Simple Southern...very little frying due to my Daddy having a heart attack @ 34yo. Mama would "shake-n-bake" so we had some crunch.

Lots of veggies, fresh from Daddy's little garden...tomatoes mainly. We didn't have air conditioning, so summer foods were cold sandwiches, salads...didn't want to make the kitchen hot with the stove.

Did your mom (or dad) cook (and was it from scratch or from a box?) or did your family eat out much of the time?

Daddies cook?? Not in our house. He rarely even went into the kitchen, unless it was to FIX something broken, like the ice maker.

No, Mama used to hand deliver everything to Daddy...tea, peanut butter & cereal...he'd have a snack each night, hand-delivered to the couch in the den, of course.

Rarely did my mama ever get anything out of a box...scratch was her comfort zone...and I learned A LOT! And, her working so hard with the cooking, meant we ate it all; we didn't go out to eat much.

I remember what a BIG DEAL it was the first time we got to eat a ChickFilA sandwich AT THE MALL! In the early 70s our new Mall was THE PLACE to go. Malls were a NEW THING for us and then the WOW of that sandwich just put it over the top...it was sooooo good....but, they WERE $1.00 for a sandwich, so we didn't get them often.

A night out for us when I was growing up was stopping at the KFC on the way home from picking Daddy up from work...had one car and mama would get the car on Fridays to do grocery shopping. I loved Fridays...we'd get to stop for supper.

Did you eat together as a family or was everyone on a different schedule? What did you call meals? (Dinner vs. supper, lunch, etc.)

Suppertime was ALWAYS our tradition, still is...I've worked hard to ensure we sit at the table together--not answering the phone, this is when the machine gets USED.

We struggled with having specific suppertime during travel-ball softball seasons; but, even then, we'd sit together as families and have fund talking. I'm a TRUE believer in keeping supper discussions to POSITIVES ONLY...it is NOT correction time at the table.

Sunday lunch is called Sunday dinner. Period.

What were some of your favorite things that your parent fixed? What did you dislike and vow never to fix once you grew up?

My Daddy's ONE item he cooked...tbone steaks on Saturday nights. He made his own bbq sauce, sweet-savory, that he'd slather on the meat the last 5 minutes before he removed it from the grill...omgoodness, I still can taste the little bit of char mixed with that wonderful sauce.

Mother would always have fresh potatoes, laSeuer english peas, an a small side salad (with Green Goddess dressing as MY choice!)

My Mother's grilled boston butts were AMAZING...just above her roast and gravy(from scratch).

She'd make us saltine crackers, peanut butter, and marshmallows baked in the toaster oven for a quick snack...one of my favs, still!

And nothing says Summer to me like Watergate Salad...cold and pistachio jello, what could be better?

Watergate Salad

1 8 oz. tub favorite whipped topping (like Cool Whip)

1 3 oz. box pistachio gelatin

1 Cup cottage cheese (low fat, small curd)

1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

Combine ingredients, mix well. Pour into a gelatin mold; chill 1 1/2 hrs

Did your family have any food traditions, things that were a must on certain occasions (such as Sunday dinners or holiday meals)?

Lasagna on Christmas Eve...go figure. Sunday Dinner roast.

Did your parent teach you to cook or did you wing it once you were grown?

Mother taught me several baking recipes, like brownies, peanut brittle and I watched a lot. She has received phone calls from me multiple times throughout the years when my interpretation of some of the recipes were blurry...and I have many of her recipes in my box. We LOVE to share recipes and discuss ways to cut the fat and sugar these days.

How similar or different are your family's eating habits today than when you grew up?

Ours are very similar...it has been INTENTIONAL. Many families have GiVEN UP on even trying to make supper time together...that will be this country's downfall.

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."Blessings,

FLASHBACK FRIDAY...it's just GOT 2 be heard

Joining Mocha with Linda!

If you can't understand my 'drawl', you can read below...

What sort of sayings, colloquialisms, or proverbs did your family say when you were growing up?

1. Bless your/her heart...

can't begin to number the times I've heard it, said it and had it said to me....mostly in a good way, sometimes in a 'catty' way.

2. DO-HICKY (

substitute name when I can't remember it's real name...like the term "whatcha-ma-call-it")

3. OH, GOOBERS!

When were they used?

1...When trying to empathize with someone after they've made a mistake... or sometimes cattily commenting when you have nothing better to say but you still want to "put on airs" and "be nice", which isn't too nice, is it??

2...ANYTHING can be the object; I especially use it around the house when I'm trying to think of the 'real name of something' and it's just NOT coming from my brain to the tip of my tongue.

3...This term is used when the hammer slips and hits my thumb; when I've dropped another utensil in the kitchen (for the umpteenth time and am tired of bending over an picking it up). I used to say this enough on my first job that one of the managers I used to work along side nicknamed me 'goober' (which here in our part of the country can also mean 'peanut'; people used to ask me why he wanted to constantly call me a peanut, hahahaha!

W

hat do you find yourself saying that you vowed you would never say?

If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it.

(Granny and Mother used to say this to us non stop...and I DO find myself saying it to DD and thinking about it when hubs might be going on and on about something)

Pitchin' a fit...

(more unhappy toddlers, mad husbands or even hormonal women; also known as 'hissy fits'...I'm doing more of this these day, too, even to myself...b/c I'm less patient with myself than anyone)

Runnin’ around like a chicken with it’s head cut off

(no thought-out plan; irresponsible living)...I often feel this way after I've tromped upstairs again to find out I still don't remember WHY I came up in the first place

What do you say that drives your kids nuts?

Anything I say these days seems to hit nerves...then the rolling eyes, crinkled brows and an extrenmely gutteral, multi-syllabled "iiiiiii KNOOOOOOOOOOOWa, Mom"

Is there a regional aspect to your speech?

Are you kidding? You KNOW you sound somewhat 'different' when people from other places turn and say, "Would you say something Southern?"

Do you have an accent and were you ever teased about it?

Definitely have an 'drawl' or 'redneck lilt', whichever you'd like to call it...but, it's who I am and doesn't bother me too much unless I'm around a large number of 'ferners' who can't understand what I'm saying...then I have to enunciate a little more for them; even though they say we speak slower, I find I have to 'slow down' my speech for them to get it...hhhhhmmm. So I'm

thinking they're more SLOW listeners, hahahaha!

Gotta love Mocha with Linda for Flashback Friday! Y’all head over and join in on the fun!

Blessings

FLASHBACK FRIDAY...patriotically

JOINING MOCHA W/ LINDA...PATRIOTICALLY! &

Friday Finding Beauty with Claudia and crowd...celebrating beauty given to us in MEMORIES!

When you were growing up, did your family do anything special to celebrate Independence Day or other patriotic occasions?

Mother would usually make a special dessert to accompany our bbq pork roast that she would grill. We enjoyed watching the fireworks on television but rarely went to see them (because there were crowds). So thankful my Mother taught me how to do simple celebrations showing her love.

Did you hang a flag?

My Daddy always made sure our flag was flying on the pole hanging beside our garage...and he'd teach us the importance of never letting it touch the ground.

There was beauty in hearing about my Daddy's commitment to his country through his service in World War II...the FLAG represented all the friends he lost and then remembered each day he raised our flag.

What about neighborhood or town parades, picnics, neighborhood parties, etc.?

Our current neighborhood always holds a picnic at our pool then a parade with their bikes and tricycles...each house gets a flag in front of their mailbox, too!

Go, USA!

Did you attend fireworks displays?

For many years we've hosted a 'day of celebration' at our church, which is across the street from our city's justice center (where they shoot off MAJOR fireworks).

On our lawn, we give out free water, grilled hot dogs and invite them to come worship with us sometime.

Our praise band stands on the front steps and sings ALL the favorite patriotic songs throughout the day...

and our combined choirs give an 'indoor' concert to provide some rest and air conditioning for those who need a break from the heat and energetic crowd.

BEAUTY comes in the freedom of worship, the freedom of speech, too...May God ALWAYS hold our commitment to these.

Were personal fireworks permitted where you lived and, if so, did your family do them?

Fireworks were NOT permitted when I was little, so we got to have 'sparklers' only. Daddy always liked to take us to the 4th/July Braves game at the stadium and they ALWAYS have 'the works' after their game...and I loved hearing the 'boom' and seeing the colors bursting in the sky.

What fun memories...

I enjoy watching them from my 2nd-floor bedroom window...

which overlooks Stone Mountain, their fireworks shoot really high up over the Mountain!

BEAUTY of all the colors but NOT in the noise they make in my neighborhood, hahahaha! When watching them live, I love how the noise makes my heart jump.

THANKS GO TO ALL OUR HEROES...

AND TO OURS SPECIFICALLY...

OOOOOOOOO-RAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Beauty of remembering those who gave THE ULTIMATE and their families struggling with their absence...God bless THEM!

Jer. 33:3

"Call to me and I will answer you

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."Blessings,