Recently my mother was hospitalized for a few days. She is better now, but it made me wish things were different. I wish I could be a married grown-up with children as I am, but that my parents could freeze time and stay the same age forever – forever young, or at least forever middle-aged.
Looking at old family photos takes me back to the 1970s today. Do you write in that time period? As of today, it’s a tricky one. It’s too far back to be contemporary but not far enough back to really be historical. It’s contemporary history. But not impossible to write.
Still, I feel like walking down memory lane today. Do you?
When the 1970s opened, I was playing with Barbies.
I still have my Crissy doll.
And I still have my Swingy doll.
The Archies was among my favorite programs.
I loved Josie and the Pussycats. No, not the movie. The cartoon.
My favorite song by The Archies.
The car that meant the most to me that they drove for many years – 8-track tape deck and all — was the 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III.
Momma loves “Peace in the Valley.”
Daddy’s favorite hymn is “In the Garden.”
Daddy is an audiophile. He was the first (and only) person I know who bought a quadrophonic stereo system. I liked listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.
They would never miss a Nancy Sinatra special on TV.
Speaking of Nancy Sinatra, if I had $1000 for every time Daddy played the song “These Boots are Made for Walking,” I could buy a mansion.
They often played songs from their high school days in the 1950s.
Momma watched American Bandstand and now watches Dancing with the Stars. From American Bandstand, “The Big Bopper.”
We went to see Elvis at the Richmond (VA) Coliseum, when Elvis looked like this. “CC Rider” is one of Daddy’s favorite songs.
I’m so grateful that God gave me parents who love me and have given me so many happy memories. I hope you have enjoyed your time with the Hancocks.
Your turn:
What are your favorite childhood memories?
What was your favorite toy? Song?
Do your memories come into play as you write?
Work First, Book Second
This is such a cool post, Tamela. Thanks so much for sharing! So sorry your mother was dealing with health issues. 🙁 Had my scares recently with my dad and father in law. Definitely such an overwhelming mixture of joy and sorrow when thinking of family in the past, present and future. Joy because of who they are and the time we’ve had. Sorrow for the things that are lost and that will be lost.
One thing I’ve found, that I didn’t expect, was that one of the most central themes in all my writing is the impact of fatherhood. I have a great dad, but for some reason, when I write, what comes into focus is the relationship between dad’s and their sons and the search for meaning and love that is so often born in sons from the fact that fathers are flawed human beings with (often) good intentions.
Loved this! I had a cowl-neck sweater like the one you’re wearing in the picture. 🙂
Ironic that you should post this today. Hubby and I are in the process this week of moving his mother into an assisted living facility. She is from an earlier generation–born in 1929. Her favorites are Judy Garland and the Andrews Sisters. She can sing almost every song from the World War 2 era, and she still laments the fact that she can’t see Lawrence Welk on TV. (At least it’s not offered on any of the cable channels she gets.) Her favorite TV shows were the Loretta Young Theater, George Goble, Red Skelton, and The Donna Reed Show.
I found a website where I can order DVDs of some of these oldies. The problem is she gets too confused to operate the DVD player on her TV.
Connie, it doesn’t take much to be confused by a lot of the DVD players out there! Maybe some family members can set up programs when they visit and enjoy watching them with her. Praying for your family!
Love this post! Brings back memories for me too. I just got out of the Air Force when the 70’s started and was in college. I majored in pre-med to start and then changed to art because I wanted to be a medical illustrator. I got married during that time and my first daughter was born in ’78. I’m like you, I loved the Archies music too, “Sugar, Sugar” anyone?
Agree, timely post! My mother had brain surgery last month to remove an aneurysm (appears to have been a success and she is doing well) but it gave my sister and I time to reminisce.
Looks like I am about the same age range as you Tamela, and I recently let my mom donate our Chrissy and Velvet dolls. She had made them both an entire wardrobe one Christmas years ago.
The show we never missed when I was in grade school was the weekly Everly Brothers hour 🙂
Loved Josie & the Pussycats too, which came on right after Scooby Doo.
I do think our childhood memories leak into our writing, good or bad.
Thanks for the grins this morning….
Lovely post, Tamala. Good memories are such a blessing and bad memories are teachable moments. What surprises me as an adult is how gullible I was as a teen and in my 20s. The rock songs I sang along with so happily then, make me wonder, “What in the world was I thinking?” You know tunes like “Another One Bites the Dust,” which is about gang violence and is often played at wedding receptions. Or the song, “The Tide is High,” which is about being a doormat and waiting until the guy you long for gets tired of running around and finally sees you’re the one! They both had great hook lines, but not exactly good messages.
Christine, I experienced the same shock as you did. My young sister and I sang “I Found My Thrill on Blueberry Hill” in a talent show, and a popular song I learned as an 11-year-old from sheet music for my piano lessons included the line, “Although with the dawn, I know you’ll be gone, tonight you belong to me.” I guess it was good that I was still too naive to know what I was singing about, but I can’t help but wonder what in the world my very prim mother and my never-married piano teacher were thinking to choose those songs. Surely they weren’t as naive as I was! 🙂
I think we get caught up in the song hooks and tunes and ignore the message at times, Christine!
Too much fun! I’m your age, so I have many of the same memories. How about Una Paloma Blanca and The Candy Man for songs? VW Beetles. Bell bottom pants. Okay, that one maybe we can forget LOL! Those and the big sideburns! When I was in high school, it was Journey and Phil Collins I listened to. And big hair! To this day, I can’t do flat hair!
Hope your mom is perking up and that the Lord blesses you both with many years together. It’s so difficult to watch your parents grow older.
Thank you, Liz!
Childhood memories definitely come to mind when I write, but I have to be sure to bring them to fit present day. I remember my mom reading the Bible to us, cooking three meals a day, and always preparing food to take to friends in their times of need. She now has dementia, but still remembers my name, and I thank the Lord for that small piece of memory. My dad worked two jobs, but when he was home he’d watch The Rifleman and other westerns. To this day he still watches those old TV shows when he can find them. Mother always made time for I Love Lucy. Today, I want to cherish every moment I still have with my aging parents, and I, for one, plan to move closer to home so I can spend quality time with both of them.
I have some wonderful childhood memories. Going fishing with my Daddy and watching his excitement over whatever size of fish I caught on my line, standing beside him in church and listening to his deep voice singing the old hymns, visiting the local library with my Mother, sitting on the floor at her feet while she read a story and then, handed the book to me, and so much more. Both parents were devoted to each other and devoted to our family. Thank you for helping me think of those precious memories. 🙂
What a great post! I enjoyed traveling back in time with the Hancocks and am praising God with you that your mom is doing much better.
My parents, too, enjoyed the songs of the day. My mom was a huge fan of Rick Astley. Traveling through Yellowstone one year, with several of us all crammed in an old 1978 Chevy dually, my dad and uncles sang “Any Day Now” by Ronnie Milsap (one of Dad’s favorite singers). I still, to this day, remember how they sounded just like him and thinking they could easily join Casey Kasem’s Top 40. 🙂
Thanks for the walk down memory lane, Tamela. Have a great weekend!
So enjoyed all your links, Tamela. That was a lovely walk back in time.
I’m old enough to have been your mother. (You look just like her in that photo, except for your hair color.) I remember practicing sheltering under desks in case of an atomic bomb attack, listening to The Lone Ranger and Big John and Sparky on the radio and being allowed to wear high (2 inch) heels and lipstick for the first time at my eighth grade graduation. Girls couldn’t wear “pants” to school, but we’d change into them to play outside without any adults around in the afternoon. We didn’t have homework, except studying for tests or finishing something we hadn’t done in class, until High School.
Lovely picture of a God-centered family. Fun memories. Do you remember the Herb Alpert album with the pic of the girl with whipped cream? My uncle had that one. 🙂
Ha! A memorable cover indeed!
What a fun post! You haven’t changed at all since then!
I was in high school and college in the 70s, so my memories are quite different from yours. I liked almost all music–especially anything by Steve Miller Band. I wore flared pants and peasant tops. My hair was waist-length. We lived in Hawaii and then moved to Mississippi, so I got to experience some really different cultures.
Debby, your check is in the mail! 😉
I’ve very much enjoyed meeting the Hancocks, Tamela. Thank you for this.
I live very much in the now; I don’t care to remember too much. There are boxes in the past’s attic best left unopened, and indeed unseen.
Tamela, what a fun posting! I loved my Kissy doll, my Barbie-wanna-be doll named Midge (Barbie was too expensive for my folks), and remember the Beatles coming to Ed Sullivan’s show. I hadn’t thought of using the past in my novels, but I love the idea, now that I think about it. Thanks for the food for thought.
I’m so glad you didn’t lose your mom recently. My mom died two years ago, after a 6-week illness, and life has not been the same. Treasure the time you have left with her!
I enjoy posts like this because I’m a sentimental person. When I started blogging, that’s what my plan was. To write about the things I always wanted to get down on paper but never took the time to do it. Now life has happened (still have a demanding day job), so that’s on the back burner for a bit. But for anyone wanting to get going on this, blogging does force one to get those stories down for others to read. My sisters, more than a decade older than I am, find it interesting how I grew up in a different household than they did–even though we had the same parents!