Monday, January 19, 2009

Meaningful Monday


Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,
For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk, yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

~~*~~

May the past be remembered fondly and the present be a source of creating new memories that can be looked upon with smiles by the generations to come. Pray that they can say these were the days that created world peace.

Have a blessed week!


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Although there is so much new technology now, making life easier, I think we lived in a much better time. Life was simpler, kids had more things to actually "do" instead of sitting in front of a box and having things "done" for them. We had to use our minds and our imagination - kids today don't have to think, just push buttons.

I wouldn't want to give up some of the things we have now - microwaves, automatic washers and dryers, computers - but I sure miss the "old days."

Jess said...

Great post..and Happy Remembrance of Martin Luther King Day!

Love, Jess

farmlady said...

Thank you Jo. I loved this. Tears clouded all the good memories but the reality is that we are the older generation now and things have changed. They always will.

Anonymous said...

That's all a bit before my time, but the sentiment I understand well. I suppose every generation looks back with a somewhat rosy gaze at times past. As my mum used to say, the good old days weren't always good. :)

Ali @ A Cosy Life

BittersweetPunkin said...

That was WONDERFUL and oh so true!!

Thanks for sharing!
Hugs,
Robin

Diane@Diane's Place said...

At 45 I remember most of those things. Good stuff, Jo.

Glad y'all had a good trip and nice visit with family.

Hope you have a great week!

Love and hugs,

Diane

Carole Burant said...

I so remember a lot of what is mentioned here and quite often I wish we could go back to these more simpler times.

Welcome back, dear Jo, I'm so sorry for taking so long to come visit you but between being busy and my internet acting up, I'm behind with visits!

I had to laugh when you mentioned "Maggie" having an attitude while you were traveling because I say the same thing about my GPS! lol When I don't go where she tells me to go, I swear I can hear the disgust in her voice! hehe

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip and how lovely that you and JD got to see so many of the family:-)

Good to have you back! xoxo