Long ago and far away when time stood still

During those years we played King of the Hill

And rode our bikes to somewhere and to nowhere until dark

We played baseball with one bat and one ball in the park.

We are the Baby Boomers, born after two world wars into sunny summers, spring flowers, white winters and foliage falls. Mother Nature opened her arms at our back doors and we played in her dirt, in her woods, and near her ponds with endless imaginations.

Simon Says take one step backward. Red Light! Green Light! Race me to the finish line! On rainy days we sat under the porch playing Parcheesi, Monopoly, Yahtzee and the Game of Life.

Roll the dice to the number six in doubles

Ride in the rain. Laugh away our troubles.

Nothing to do was everything too; boredom was never

We built forts, shot marbles; we were blood brothers forever.

We knew the garbageman, the milkman, the bread man and the ice cream man by their names. Paperboys delivered the Star Ledger right next to the milk boxes on our porches.

We talked on telephones that hung on the wall

Turned rotary dials to make a call

Pay phones worked if we had a dime

Or call collect if we needed more time.

We heard our moms say, “Wait until your father gets home” whenever we were bad. So, dads, walking in the door after a hard day’s work and before they could sit down for dinner, removed theirs belts and told us to assume the position.

Everyone knew their place. Dad worked. Mom cooked, cleaned and took care of our needs. We went to school dressed in collared shirts, pants that weren’t dungarees and shoes that weren’t sneakers. When we came home, off came the school clothes and on came the play clothes.

Bullying we did every day at the playground. We cursed each other. We made fun of everyone. We laughed away the insults. Sometimes, we had to settle an issue behind the school building. We had strict rules for the battle. The fight was between only the two of us. Friends could come watch and cheer, but they were spectators and never jumped into the fray. We punched and tackled until a nose bled or a face swelled. Totally exhausted and with no more ax to grind, we stood tall and shook hands. Respect was attained and given, and sometimes the combatants became best of friends.

Backyard picnics were common on summer weekends. The men smoked their cigarettes and drank highballs or shots of whiskey with beer chasers. Every mom made food to bring. Dads grilled burgers and dogs over charcoal fires. They played horseshoes and the kids played badminton or whiffle ball. The women caught up on neighborhood gossip.

The cleanup took hours. Metal trash cans filled with beer bottles. Garbage bags held paper plates, plastic forks and napkins. A few weeks passed until another neighborhood picnic brought us all together again.

“Bonanza,” “Gunsmoke,” “Gilligan’s Island” were programs we watched on TV.

“Get up off the floor and change the channel. I did it last time!”

“No, you didn’t. I did!”

Change the channel to one of the three stations that signaled to our antenna on top of the roof. The TV repairman replaced burned out tubes. When the vertical hold of the picture went bad, we had to watch Andy Griffith’s head flipping up and down.

Girls kissed TV screens while Elvis shook his hips. The Beatles started a British invasion with long hair and fan fainting songs. The Rolling Stones were censored on TV when they sang “Satisfaction.” Double meaning songs played on AM radio. The Association’s “Along Comes Mary” was about a girl named Mary who made you feel good or about marijuana that did the same. The Beatles sang “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” with lyrics about LSD, the new designer drug.

Not all were happy days. An early afternoon bullet changed our world. JFK, our Camelot president, was shot dead in a Dallas motorcade. A country cried. Innocence was lost. Suddenly, we worried that if the man from the White House was not safe, then how could we be, especially after we watched a murder live on TV when Lee Harvey Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby?

Civil disobedience followed the march of MLK

A glimmer of hope was spoken by RFK

Bullets of hate ended their dream

And once again, the American Eagle screamed.

Dylan sang “The Times They are a Changin’.” Rallies and protests raged against the war in Vietnam. Race riots destroyed our cities. College students held “sit-ins” on campuses and refused to move until their demands were met.

Woodstock hosted a counterculture of a half a million strong gathered in music, peace and love. In the same year of 1969, we caught our breaths when our American man walked on the moon.

We are the Boomers with memories abound

We share our stories with everyone around

We’ve lived a full life; we’ve known much death.

We cherish each moment we take a breath.

We’ve saved time in a bottle from back in the day

Hey! Let’s open it up and go outside to play!

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com.