The Question of the Day
How old am I?
I was thinking about my life and times. Then I realized that many of my young caregivers don’t know what it was like when I was growing up. Some of my student caregivers are younger than my children!
I was born in the late 50’s when photos were only in black and white.
Plus my dad was a big picture taker and he had a camera that had an exploding flash, in other words once you took the picture the flash was dead.
My dad worked in N. Y. C. in the 60’s and I loved going to the city! I remember going on school field trips from my home in northern N. J. to the city and one great visit was to the United Nations. After the tour my dad picked me up when the field trip was over and we walked to my dad’s office. I had such a good time meeting the people that he worked with especially his secretary who let me play with her Dictaphone!
The other incredible field trip was going to see the Broadway musical called Jesus Christ Superstar. I remember some parents won’t let their child go because they thought the play was blasphemy!
Another fond memory was my dad and I going to Yankee Stadium! I saw Mickey Mantel and Willie Mays!
My parents were big into scouting and I joined the Cub Scouts. My mom was our den leader! Also many of my friends were in my den.
I passed it along to my son Chris and we joined the Cub Scouts in Tennessee.
I was his den leader! Soon as he was old enough we joined the Boy Scouts.
We lived in a nice quiet neighborhood and my friends were very close. We played sports all year long. Stick baseball, basketball, tag football, street hockey and soccer. Years after we went our separate ways for example marriage and children the neighborhood boys got together twice! My best friend Dave mom called us The Hope Street Gang! We lived on Hope Street in Ridgewood, N. J.
My family decided to move to Colorado in the early 70’s. It was difficult for me embracing the idea of leaving my great friends, I knew it would be okay. In Colorado I grew to absolutely love the great outdoors. My dad encouraged us to get out and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. Backpacking, skiing, trout fishing hunting and rock climbing filled my life! When I was in college my dad and I shot an elk! Dad named him Ralph!
On the negative side I grew up in a turbulent time in America. The war was raging in Vietnam and the nightly news on TV reported how many Vietcong were killed but I knew it was a lie. America was protesting the war. Many songs were written and I was petrified that I would be drafted. Fortunately I was not drafted; President Nixon pulled us out of the war. It was a disaster for veterans coming home being hated!
One of my favorite memories was when my parents took us kids to spend the weekend with my grandparents who owned a lovely house in Sussex, N. J. On one evening we all gathered around the black and white TV to watch Apollo 11 and the historic moment when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon!
Life is good!
