Growing up, Sunday was family day. Big breakfast (the very best part of the day), then Catholic Mass, and after that, to points unknown, sometimes even to us. But I did not appreciate these little intrusions into my busy Sunday schedule. I had my Pop Warner football game to play and then my “busy schedule” included playing all day with the neighborhood gang. Not that kind of a gang. Here I go sounding like I am a hundred years old again, but I come from a time when gang was more “Spanky and Our Gang” than “Colors.” Before when the colors red and blue stood for different colors of the spectrum, not a Death Squad. Besides, I was 8 and there were girls out there. So the whole Church thing wasn’t working for me.
I pleaded with my mom and stepfather to be excused from Mass so I could do my own thing. They were hearing none of it. No way. No chance whatsoever. See, I am very stubborn and I got it from mom (aka the Source), so it was the irresistible force against the immovable object. I tried everything to get my way, but mom was holding firm. So I figured out a way. I would hold my breath until I literally passed out and my step-dad would have to carry me out of the chapel. After eight or nine Sundays, I stopped attending with no objections from either of my parents.
Yet another example of the deep-seated issues I possess.
And when we played, I mean we played, No one had a phone to stare at. Or earplugs playing our favorite music. We DID have transistor radios which were pretty hi-tech (cutting edge) for 1962. We would play from after breakfast until lunchtime when mom would call in the “gang” to attack the mountain of sandwiches and pitchers of Kool-Aid she had prepared. We were army men, space travelers, of course Cowboys and Indians, and we did not need toys or fancy costumes. Only our imaginations. We played outside and got a lot of physical exercise accomplished. The very thought of a cell phone didn’t exist yet.
Today is Sunday and my family days now consist of rehabbing my leg and spending time with Karen and my pups Bruiser and Murphy. I am also showing progress on my novel and have decided to start writing music again. Last Monday I posted a link to one of my originals and tomorrow’s song will be posted at midnight Arizona Time. Let me know what you think. In the meantime, be safe and look to a brighter tomorrow.
Stay well.
