That Was Us (Or At Least Some Of Us)

A little house with three bedrooms

One bathroom and one car on the street 

A mower that you had to push 

To make the grass look neat.

 In the kitchen on the wall 

We only had one phone, 

And no need for recording things, 

Someone was always home.

 We only had a living room 

Where we would congregate, 

Unless it was at mealtime 

In the kitchen where we ate.

 We had no need for family rooms 

Or extra rooms to dine.

When meeting as a family 

Those two rooms would work out fine.

 We only had one TV set 

And channels maybe two, 

But always there was one of them 

With something worth the view

 For snacks we had potato chips 

That tasted like a chip. 

And if you wanted flavor 

There was Lipton's onion dip.

 Store-bought snacks were rare because 

My mother liked to cook 

And nothing can compare to snacks 

In Betty Crocker's book

 Weekends were for family trips 

Or staying home to play 

We all did things together – 

Even go to church to pray.

 When we did our weekend trips 

Depending on the weather, 

No one stayed at home because 

We liked to be together

 Sometimes we would separate 

To do things on our own, 

But we knew where the others were 

Without our own cell phone

Then there were the movies 

With your favorite movie star, 

And nothing can compare 

To watching movies in your car

 Then there were the picnics 

at the peak of summer season, 

Pack a lunch and find some trees 

And never need a reason.

 Get a baseball game together 

With all the friends you know, 

Have real action playing ball – 

And no game video.

Remember when the doctor 

Used to be the family friend, 

And didn't need insurance 

Or a lawyer to defend

 The way that he took care of you 

Or what he had to do, 

Because he took an oath and strived 

To do the best for you

Remember going to the store 

And shopping casually, 

And when you went to pay for it 

You used your own money?

 Nothing that you had to swipe 

Or punch in some amount, 

And remember when the cashier person 

Had to really count?

 The milkman used to go 

From door to door, 

And it was just a few cents more 

Than going to the store.

 There was a time when mailed letters 

Came right to your door, 

Without a lot of junk mail ads 

Sent out by every store .

 The mailman knew each house by name 

And knew where it was sent; 

There were not loads of mail addressed 

To "present occupant"

 There was a time when just one glance 

Was all that it would take, 

And you would know the kind of car, 

The model and the make

 They didn't look like turtles 

Trying to squeeze out every mile; 

They were streamlined, white walls, fins 

And really had some style

 One time the music that you played 

Whenever you would jive, 

Was from a vinyl, big-holed record 

Called a forty-five

 The record player had a post 

To keep them all in line 

And then the records would drop down 

And play one at a time.

 Oh sure, we had our problems then, 

Just like we do today 

And always we were striving, 

Trying for a better way.

 Oh, the simple life we lived 

Still seems like so much fun, 

How can you explain a game, 

Just kick the can and run?

 And why would boys put baseball cards 

Between bicycle spokes 

And for a nickel, red machines 

Had little bottled Cokes?

 This life seemed so much easier 

Slower in some ways 

I love the new technology 

But I sure do miss those days.

 So time moves on and so do we 

And nothing stays the same, 

But I sure love to reminisce 

And walk down memory lane.

 With all today's technology 

We grant that it's a plus! 

But it's fun to look way back and say, 

"HEY LOOK, GUYS, THAT WAS US!"