When I sat down at the computer a few months ago, I had a totally random idea. Randomness isn't anything unusual for my pinball brain. ~smile~ I decided to use a random number generator to give me a year from 1969 (when I have my first few memories) to 2024.
I shared at least one memory from the year and then added in any randomness that came to mind. I've decided to do it again. I found it helped me to get past my writer's block and also gave readers something to spark a memory, or at least something interesting or silly or nostalgic to read. So here we go again!
Random Year: 1976
- The United States Bicentennial was celebrated all year. In fact, on tv, there were movies, programs and what we'd now call shorts that were inserted between regular programming that told and showed the history of the colonial period and the things that were leading up to the Revolutionary War.
- I had the same teacher for 4th and 5th grade. Her name was Pamela Higgs. She was the most influential teacher I ever had. In fact, she truly influenced the trajectory of my life. I wrote a blog post about her a few years ago.
- Mrs. Higgs taught practical skills and crafts from the olden days during our art times. We made butter, learned to embroider, play chess, macrame, and she read Little House in the Prairie and other books to us after lunch. She helped me have a diy spirit.
- I became dedicated to learning to sew, embroider, crochet, macrame, bake, and cook. Sparkling Sugar Cookies from the Junior Betty Crocker Cookbook was the first recipe that I remember mastering. I'd lost the recipe for years, but I found it written out in my daughter's childhood cookbook.
- My mom remarried.
- We lived in town, but the back-to-nature bug had bitten my mom and step-dad. They were making plans behind the scenes to move to acreage outside town.
- I rode my bike freely in our neighborhood and played at the wet weather creek with my little brother and neighborhood kids. It was nearly always dry. There was a spot where generations of kids had ridden their bikes down one bank and up the next and worn a path. It was at the back of a large field owned by a church. We flew kites there every March. We kids never thought about who owned the property. It was ours. ~grin~
- I liked making clothes for my Barbie doll, and watching Happy Days! Fonzie was so cool!
That's all I remember right now. What do YOU remember?
Laura
Happy to Remember
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Time Traveling Through My Memories
A Little Randomness:
Boy, this took me back! We didn't have a TV, but I loved going to my sister's house and watching Happy Days, too!
ReplyDeleteI had hoped to jog a few memories. We watched tv, but this was the only show that came to mind when I was thinking about it.
DeleteHappy week ending!
Laura
On April 2nd of 19 76 I married my sweetheart. We only had the weekend for a honeymoon and could have made it one day longer had we got married on April 1st, but decided not to, knowing we would always be teased about marrying on April fool's Day.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful, Connie! My Grandma Bern, whom I recently wrote of, was born on April 1st. I always wondered if she was teased. Her life was no joke. She lived through WWI, Spanish flu, Great Depression, WWII, and on and on. She also had four kids. ~smile~ That was the blessing part.
DeleteI'm glad to remind you of something to think fondly of.
Happy week ending!
Laura
Your teacher sounds like a real inspiration to you. It's clear that you remember her with great fondness.
ReplyDeleteIn 1976 I turned 12. I was at 'big school' (secondary school), so I had lots of different teachers. I had been there a year, so had got used to it by then.
I played cornet in my local silver band and I won 3rd prize for playing a solo in a big regional competition in the very first contest I entered.
All my aunts, uncles and cousins lived in the same small area. There was some waste ground at the back of our house and I remember being in charge of collecting wood for the bonfire for a big family party and being in charge of my little cousins when we went out on foraging expeditions. I haven't thought about that for years!
Hi Tracy, Oh, I'm smiling big. Your response is exactly what I was hoping for when I started this series. Sometimes it just takes a little nudge to think of the old times. My husband tells the stories to the kids easily. I need a little nudge for my memories.
DeleteI'm so happy to have nudged your memories just a bit. I hope that they were happy ones.
Thank you so much for writing to me. It just made my day!
Laura