IT WASN'T SO LONG AGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It wasn't long so ago..................
It wasn't long so ago when I would be excited about halloween being just around the corner. We would make a costume out of an old sheet or either go through Dads old clothes,  pick out the worst looking and most worn and mom would sew patches on them so we would look like an old bum or a Hobo.  We would put charcoal dust on our face for a special effect and off we would go.  We would gather with our friends in the neighborhood and with an old pillowcase thrown over our shoulder to hold our bounty,  off we would go.  We of course called it "trick or treat" but there was no reason to play a trick on anyone because every house would have a treat for us. Some houses had homemade treats tied up in little bags,  others had fruit and still others had store bought candy.  My favorite house to go to was always the big house at the end of the street that the "Ol  Maid  Sission Sisters" lived in.  I remember they would always place a shiny Silver Dollar in my bag,  which I would immediately fish out and deposit as deep as posible into the pocket of my jeans for safe keeping.  At the end of the night, I would take all of my candy home,  dump it out on my bed and pick out some of my favorite pieces to sample while making sure I had enough to ruin all my meals for at least two or three weeks.  I couldn't wait to get to school the next day to trade stories about our halloween night excursions with my classmates..........Yes,,,It wasn't so long ago............

It wasn't long so ago................
It wasn't long so ago that we would turn the page on the calander and it would be November.  November would mean a short vacation from school at the end of the month.  It would mean the beginning of colder weather.  The changing colors of the leaves and the task of raking them into piles as they fell to the ground.  I've often wondered how many times I raked the same leaves into a pile because as I remember, as soon as they were all piled up,  we would jump into the piles and scatter them all over the yard again, which of course meant they had to be raked up again.  November also meant High School Football games.  I was in what we called grammer school but my older sister, Dianne, was in High School and ever friday night we would bundle up and with Dad at the wheel we would head to Grady Stadium or Cheney Stadium to watch the Murphy Eagles do battle.  I can remember shoe polish messages being written on the back windows of all the cars imploring our team of blue and white to beat our opponents of the night.  And gosh at the crepe paper that was used.  Every car it seems was decorated in their school colors with streamers of crepe paper.  And then at the end of the month,  It was time for Thankgiving.  A time for everyone,   man and woman,  boy and girl to pause and give thanks.  To really ponder how blessed we were.  We would have a wonderful meal of turkey and dressing.  Of yams and green beans.  Of potatoe salad and cranberry sauce.  Of desserts so plentiful that the thoughts of them makes my mouth water still to this day.  But as good as the food was,  that's not what the day was about.  As nice as it was to have a couple of extra days off from school,,,,,,, that's not what the day was about.  As much fun as it was going to the UGA - Ga Tech Freshman game.....That's not what the day was about......It was about the blessings and the joys and family and friends that filled every other day of the year.  And it was about our fathers and grandfathers that had fought to give us this free land.  And it was not only about the men who had given so much of themselves for this purpose but also for the women,  the mothers and grandmothers that had "KEPT" this great country going while the men were away.  And it was about much more.  It was about many things that gave us pause to be thankful and fill out hearts with a fullness that I'm not gifted enough to express,  but if you were there,  you know what I'm trying to say.........................Yes....It wasn't so long ago............

It wasn't so long ago.......
It wasn't so long ago when we would once again turn the page of the calendar.  It was December now.  Winter was now here.  The coldness filled the air and in the mind of a child, the hope for a white Christmas.  This month would bring a longer vacation from school,  a full two weeks.  I couldn't wait for the Christmas Holidays to begin.  There was a special feeling in the air in December.  There were Christmas Parades and trips around the city to look at all the lights that were everywhere.  There was the lighting of the tree on the bridge at Rich's and a trip was always made to ride the "Pink Pig."   I can still smell the Cashews roasting as we would enter the doors at the Sears on Ponce De Leon.  I can still remember the excitement of wondering what Santa would leave under the tree.  But there was something else...yes.... something else.  There was the practicing for the Christmas play at school.  The play was always basically the same.  there was the manger.  There was Joseph and Mary.  There were the three wise men.  There was the Star in the East.  And of course there was the Baby Jesus.  The whole play was about the Baby Jesus.  Oh yes.  I remember it well.....There were other things going on.  There was once again family times.  There was decorating and going out to cut down a tree to place in the living room for the gift to be put under.  Ther were parties and get togethers, shopping trips and hours spent looking through the Sears Wish Book....but....but  In the end..."The whole thing was about the Baby Jesus............ And you know.........."And It Still Is"

Think back.....It wasn't so long ago !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!