58 YEARS AGO

 Goodness, we're three days into the new year.  Our silly human minds make a big deal out of new beginnings and starting new paths, yet when the new date arrives, nothing's different  It takes a lot of determination for us to make changes to our daily routines.

Football games were on the telly most of yesterday.  I snuggled in with my laptop and let my mind be swept away with another movie marathon.  

Today is the 58th anniversary of our first date.  Yup, the boyfriend picked me up and took me to a teen hop.  The Trashmen were there and sang "The Bird's the Word."  Remember Dale wore a pair of black pants, neatly pressed white long-sleeved shirt, narrow black tie, and a cardigan striped black, white and gray sweater, black polished shoes and white socks.  Drove a 1954 Chevy that he kept spit-shined clean, just like the cars we drive to this day.  Seems like a century ago and feels like last night.  

Remember well our slow dances that night.  Really wouldn't be classed as a dance, more like a moving hug.  I wore a black straight skirt with a kick pleat in the back and a red nylon sweater that I wore backward.  Circle pin was the only jewelry.

Yup, a lifetime has passed, and here we are a little old couple still dating.  Only thing is now we live together.  Boy, times have changed in that regard.  My mother would have tarred and feathered me, killed and buried me under the back porch if I'd have spent one hour behind closed doors alone with the boyfriend.  If I had my life to live over again, I'd have taken more chances, but was just too afraid of the repercussions.  Life is way backward.  We make our biggest life decisions when we have the least brains.  

Guess all worked out, despite the rigid parental restrictions.  Maybe that's what's lacking today.  Discipline and consequences have been taken out of the picture.  Now, the family circle is more like a Rubik's Cube. 

Looking back to 1964, that year the Beatles had their first #1 hit in the U.S. with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."  Their first appearance here was on The Ed Sullivan Show.  The first Ford Mustang was introduced to the U.S.   By July of 1964, the total number of U.S. forces in Vietnam raised to 21,000.  Eighteen-year-old boys faced the draft and a strong possibility of being sent to Vietnam.  That was our generation's war, and a boondoggle to boot.  

Now that it's January, the Christmas tree suddenly looks out of place.  Now is when I'm thankful we didn't put up the village and unpack the hundred Santas.  If I had to take down the displays, pack 'em back up, think I'd rather jump off the deck head first.