Winning Words 10/19/12
“When you get to be 70 there are fewer people you can turn to and ask, ‘What was it like in the olden days?’”  (William K. Maxwell Jr – adapted)  I enjoyed it when my dad would tell me about playing baseball against 3-finger Brown.  I liked hearing about “the good old days.”  With Halloween coming up, I wonder if I should tell my g-children about what we did before “trick or treat” became so organized?    ;-)  Jack

 DO YOU REMEMBER HIS SONG BY THE JUDDS?
Grandpa
Tell me 'bout the good old days.
Sometimes it feels like
This world's gone crazy.
Grandpa, take me back to yesterday,
Where the line between right and wrong
Didn't seem so hazy.

Did lovers really fall in love to stay
Stand beside each other come what may
was a promise really something people kept,
Not just something they would say
Did families really bow their heads to pray
Did daddies really never go away
Whoa oh Grandpa,
Tell me 'bout the good old days.

Grandpa
Everything is changing fast.
We call it progress,
But I just don't know.
And Grandpa, let's wonder back into the past,
And paint me a picture of long ago.

Did lovers really fall in love to stay
Stand beside each other come what may
Was a promise really something people kept,
Not just something they would say and then forget
Did families really bow their heads to pray
Did daddies really never go away
Whoa oh Grandpa,
Tell me 'bout the good old days.

Whoa oh Grandpa,
Tell me 'bout the good ole days.

 FROM BF IN MICHIGAN:  Is it safe to share that story?////FROM JACK:  When we first moved to West Bloomfield we were warned about Devil's Night (Oct 30), and it was baaaad.  Thankfully, things have improved.

 FROM CS IN WISCONSIN:  This is why I’ve been encouraging ‘children’ who have parents in their 80s and 90s to ask them the questions they want to know about the good old days, memories of their parents (grandparents/siblings), how did you get these recipes you use all the time, what was it like to live without the amenities of running water and indoor plumbing.  Our daughter-in-law asked me last winter to write down my favorite recipes and memories that go with them or when did I start to learn to cook/bake.  It took me until September to finish the project – lots of recipes/lots of memories.  She’s thinking about doing a cookbook for our kids and grandkids for Christmas or maybe next year for our 50th anniversary.
After my mom died, I wrote to some of her siblings and cousins and asked them to write me stories about my grandparents or the cousins’ parents.  I cherish the letters they sent to me and we included them in a family tree book that another second cousin compiled and printed last year along with some old wedding pictures of each of my grandpas siblings.
Yes, you should tell your children the ‘free’ things we did at Halloween; getting an apple, a homemade caramel apple, popcorn balls, homemade cookies and the homemade costumes – nothing bought.  I’m sure there were some shenanigans too.  Those are all great memories!
Hope you enjoy your Halloween this year.  I love to see the costumes the children come dressed in and also how polite they are – remembering to say ‘thank you’.  We will see over 100 that night and we live in a neighborhood of mostly retired people.////FROM JACK:  In our subdivision, people are asked to sit at the end of their driveway with treats as a parade of costumed kids makes it's way through the streets with a lighted car front and back

FROM PC IN MICHIGAN:  Are you referring to "Trick or Treat for Unicef"?  That was the only way I was allowed to Trick or Treat - and no costumes were allowed either; it was "not" a day for Christians to celebrate. Yes, do share with the grandkids.////FROM JACK:  Yes, I recall raising money for UNICEF and some people (who didn't like the U.N.) refusing to contribute.  BTW, some people don't realize the Christian connection with All Hallow's Eve.////PC:  Well, for Catholics I know that November 1st is a Holy Day - the Feast of All Saints. Since I'm named after St. Patrick it does hold special meaning for me.////JACK:  The masks on Halloween were meant to disguise people so that the bad spirits would be frightened away and not enter them

 .FROM CB IN MICHIGAN:  I used to love hearing stories from grandfather about the farm and the pranks he did as a kid.  Once when he and his brother were kids they were sent to the preacher's house to do some chores.  The preacher had a parrot.  Those two rascals taught the preacher's parrot to swear.  Now, we laughed pretty hard about that but you, Jack, might have a different view ////FROM JACK:  That's a great story about the preacher's parrot.  On the day of Halloween I'd go out and buy a new bar of Fels-Naphta soap.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown was my idol....even tho his career was long ended before I was born.   I think it is so neat that your Dad played against him.   My Dad was the manager of the East Moline Cubs and his first baseman was George Magerkurth.    His first cousin. Hoot Ellinwood of Rock Island, was the QB for the Rock Island Independents and their running back was Jim Thorpe.    You are right, not too many people with whom one can reminisce any more....but you are one...hang in there. ////FROM JACK:  I like those nicknames from the good old days.  I went school with a kid whose nickname was "Stinky."  Stink was really a good football and basketball player and liked his nickname.  I suppose St.Peter's nickname was, "Rocky."  The first baby I baptized was named, Rocky..

FROM MY LAWYER:  I don't know about where you grew up, but in my neighborhood, we used to say "help the poor" going house to house!!!////FROM JACK:  That was commendable, if indeed you collected money, candy and other food for the poor.  Knowing you, I would think that you did collect for the poor. ////ML:  Are you kidding???  That was just the figure of speech for the day!  We ate it all!

 FROM CWR IN B'MORE:  .......Amen.     It's interesting for me to enjoy how much Baltimore has changed since in my youth here when Baltimore was an old Southern City, segregated (both ethnically and racially)  I grew up in a white German Christian neighborhood where even the Church Services were in both German and English (and Latin)....and went to public parks labeled "White Gentiles Only" and the "public" schools were Segregated both ethnically and racially..////FROM JACK:  The Civil Rights legislation changed a lot of communities, but there remain pockets of incivility.

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Essie had an interview with the assisted living lady this morning. Essie just called me, the apartment she saw Wednesday has been taken by a lady moving in from rehabilitation at the nursing home. We have one brother and in his just came back from seeing Africa, a niece who's going to move to India to work, our daughter and her boyfriend going to Rio de Janeiro for business and vacation and yet I can honestly tell Essie the saga of her life now is absolutely the most interesting to me, maybe because I'm impressed with her stamina and fortitude in going through all of this right now--she'll be 93 this coming Saturday you know. Maybe some day I'll be telling some grandkids about Essie and the old days when Essie and I were so surprised each day at the news she had to share about the situation and we could still share a laugh and joke about the way life is.

 FROM DL IN NW MINNESOTA:  No, don't tell them, and I won't tell mine about our Halloweens in the suburbs of L.A..!////FROM JACK:  Were you ever arrested?  You probably should have been.

 FROM PH IN MINNESOTA:  Soooo,  what did you do before tricks and treats?? ////FROM JACK:  Enough so that when my dad heard about it, he chased me down the street.  I was a fast runner in those days.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It's very important for families to share memories.  Last Thanksgiving I collected recipes from all the family members and had them made into a book.  This year I am working on taking quilt squares from my great grandmother, grandmother and mother and giving each family member a square.  They all sewed quilts for Lutheran Social Services and they kept a few squares from each quilt.  I embroidered  "Families are tied together with Heartstrings" on each piece and am writing a memory about each woman.  Family means a lot to each of us.  Memories, such as scary Halloween trick or treating are one of those fun things to be shared. ////FROM JACK:  I should probably change your Blogger name to SAINT JUDY.

 FROM DS IN SAN DIEGO:  Boy, isn't that the truth.  Is it just because we are "old" we seem to talk more about the 50's?  I suppose our children will talk about how great the 70's were. ////FROM JACK:  Even though it included WW 2, the decade of the 40s was the best for me.

 FROM MOLINER JT:  Probably best we keep it to ourselves.////FROM JACK: I never hear anyone say, "Mum's the word," these days.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Your dad must have been quite a ball player!!  We had a Memorial service today for long-time baseball coach here, who was in my S.S. class. One less to reminisce about the good old days with us...About Halloween stories, Bill and his buddies annually pushed over outhouses in the neighborhood, especially one cranky neighbors...It ended, when this neighbor moved his outhouse  off of the septic hole, and when they ran in after dark to ram it over, ended up in a stinking mess (just the first three..luckily Bill was behind them...:-)  The neighbor did the trick!!  They sure got no treat!! The next morning, the outhouse was back in place, as innocent as anything...! I like your neighborhood's parade of costumes, with lighted cars at each end. We have Trunk or Treat in our church parking lot, dressed in costumes(nothing scary) and handing out treats from out car trunks.  Always give costume prizes, as well. ////FROM JACK:  Did the twins dress in identical costumes?

 FROM ILLINOIS LIZ:  Don't give them any ideas!   The oldest living human just died at 132... btw. ////FROM JACK:  I wonder what stories they could tell me that I don't know about.  "Grandma, you don't want to know how the kids talk in school and what they talk about."

 FROM CJL IN OHIO:  Why not?  They'll either think it's cool or foolish.  Either way you educate ////FROM JACK:  Recalling the things I did in high school and before....my sister laughed when I said that I was thinking of becoming a pastor.