Share Your Nostalgia

After seven days of great toys, I suppose it is my turn to wrap things up in my Toy of Your Life topic. Before I begin, I want to extend my gratitude to those seven writers who said, “Yeah, Keith. I’ll write up something for your silly feature.” Nancy, Colin, Christian, Randy, Max, Dave, and Stewart – I thank you for each contributing and making this trial run successful. I really enjoyed reading your pieces and so did my readers.

When I was approached to host this topic based feature, I was really unsure if it would work. First, I didn’t think anyone would be interested enough to write for it. I knew it had to be a topic that would be relatable to the writers as well as the readers. I think that this was accomplished. What I loved about this was that despite the diverseness of the choices, I could relate to all of them.

Right from the start, I had a turntable that was much like the one Nancy wrote about. I played my Beatles albums and my 45’s on my red one.

Colin’s Subbuteo table soccer game was completely unknown to me. However, it jogged my memory as to the electric football game I used to have.

When Christian picked Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, I connected immediately. I had hundreds of them. As I mentioned in a comment, we spent hours outside building cities and roads for ours.

Max chose a couple. First, the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I was reminded my a school buddy that they not only had the cycle, but some other Evel vehicles.

He also picked Pong. We had it, too! It was the Atari 2600 that took things to a whole new level for us.

Who doesn’t love Legos (when they are not being stepped on)? Dave’s choice was another universal love for me and the readers of this blog. I have fond memories of putting things together myself, and watching my kids build things.

Randy spoke of his Roy Rogers action figures and Stewart’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures needed their very own van. I had my own action figures … more on that in a moment.

I thought long and hard about what toy to choose. At first, I thought about how everyone in my neighborhood had a Big Wheel. However, in 1978, when I saw the ad for The Green Machine, I had to have it. It was a blast and a lot of the kids were envious of mine. But, I couldn’t pick this one, because it wasn’t THE toy of my life.

The other toy I begged for was called the Sound Gizmo. I loved this thing. It made all kinds of sounds and you could change the speed and pitch to make them sound different. I used this when my buddy and I would be playing outside. We’d be spies, or treasure hunters, or something. If we needed a “tool” to cut through a padlock, I’d use this thing with a laser sound and an explosion. It enhanced the imagination.

I truly believe this was one of those toys that my folks regretted getting for me as soon as I opened it!

No, when I had to chose THE toy (toys, in this case) of my life, it would have to be Star Wars action figures. My brother and I bugged my grandparents for them as soon as we knew they were available. There were plenty of commercials on TV for the figures and the various vehicles and sets.

My brother and I each had a complete set of figures, thanks to my grandparents. Grandma made sure we knew how hard she looked for those things, too. She told us how difficult it was to find Yoda or the Jawa figures. She went to great lengths not to disappoint (and spoil) us!

I don’t even know how she did it, but she got them all! I mean there were like 100 of those things! That means 200 figures at whatever they cost back in the 70’s. It was insane.

Star Wars toys were on our list from 1977 through the early 80’s! You couldn’t go wrong with Star Wars stuff. Some years it was vehicles, other years we got 12 inch Star Wars dolls.

My brother and I used to play with those figures constantly. I think he had this small three shelf thing that he turned into a three floor apartment house for his figures. We used all kinds of things with our figures. The one thing I remember most is taking those old McDonald’s Styrofoam containers and making cars or spaceships out of them.

We’d cut holes in the top of them and bingo, it was a spaceship. Need a bed for them to sleep in? Cut off the top! We used those things for everything.

There were times our front lawn was full of Star Wars ships, animals, and parts of a space station. Not to mention 200+ figures. We spent summer days playing out front. It was such a blast.

Whenever we’d spend the night at my grandparent’s house, we’d lug over boxes and bags with figures and vehicles. They went with us everywhere! They were truly the Toy of our Lives.

As we got older, characters became other people. Ben Kenobi was an old drunk guy, one of the Tuscan Raiders was always annoying people, and a Princess Leia figure became “Aunt Carol.” We don’t even have an Aunt Carol, so don’t ask me how that came about.

I could kick myself for what ended up happening to most of those figures. We cut horns off some of them. Others we put over a candle to see if they would melt. Some would get tied to a firecracker to see if we could blow them up. The lucky ones got tied to bottle rockets and took a ride down our street.

Today, when I walk into a store with vintage toys, I see how much some of those figures are selling for and I shake my head. I suppose I wish I had taken better care of them so I could pass them down to my kids. Other times I wish I still had them in the package they came in, because those are worth more money. But then I think about it. What kind of memories would I have today if they never came out of the package?!

Hours and hours my brother and I played with those figures. We had so much fun with them. It was an amazing time where we could create our own scenarios and fire up the imagination. There was an empty script and we got to write it. Darth Vader didn’t have to be a bad guy if we didn’t want him to be. Chewbacca could have bad gas if we wanted him to. Jabba the Hut could join Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. Han Solo could be a door to door Amway salesman!

Those days were so special. Those figures led to thousands of stories, hundreds of laughs, and a memory strong enough to cause me to seek out other folks to share their favorite toy memories with you and me.

I hope you enjoyed the posts from the last week. Thank you again to those bloggers who participated. If you haven’t visited their blogs, please do. Maybe I can find another topic and we can do this again? Suggestions? Let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Share Your Nostalgia

This week I’ve been featuring guest bloggers in the series, “Share Your Nostalgia.” The idea was one that was proposed to me be some of my blogger friends. Many of them contributed to this series. The topic for this feature is “The Toy of Your Life.” Was there one toy that you considered the “best?” When you think of yourself as a child, what is the toy that immediately pops into your mind? What was the toy that you brought to Show and Tell or took with you everywhere?

The idea of having guest bloggers is not a new one. As a matter of fact, my next writer has been doing something similar for a couple years now. I am talking about my good friend Dave Ruch. Dave’s name should sound familiar if you visit my page often. Dave is the host of Turntable Talk, a monthly music feature that appears on his blog, A Sound Day. You can find his site here: https://soundday.wordpress.com/

Dave is another one of those great people I met through music and music bloggers. Dave’s blog features musical writings on many genres of music, music history, and artist info. Dave has also authored a couple books. The Mockingbird Speaks was published in 2014 and deals with two things of importance to him. First, appreciating wildlife (and in particular birds) and second, looking at things in a positive light. Another book is Thank Goodness! 101 Things to Be Grateful For Today. It is a collection of personal accounts of good things that often go unnoticed that can bring happiness.

Admittedly, this feature is a blatant rip off of Dave’s Turntable Talk. The only difference is that his topic is musical and mine is nostalgic. Although, now that I think about it, those two things can easily be the same thing. I need to apologize to Dave here. When I decided when this would run, I didn’t think about my feature and his bumping into each other. My bad. It won’t happen again, I promise.

I can’t help but wonder what Dave’s favorite toy was. I know he’s a big baseball fan. Is is sport related? Let’s find out, shall we?

Don’t Walk Barefoot

Thanks Keith, for inviting me to take part in this forum and relive a few fine childhood memories in the process! “The Toy Of Your Life” is a great topic and it seems most of us have at least one that pops into our head and calls up moments of fond reminiscing.

Growing up in the ’70s, I see I had some things in common with people who’ve already contributed. I think most of us grew up in decent homes, but weren’t Richie Rich clones nor spoiled. I had a good number of toys to play with when young, but my closet wasn’t busting at the seams and I sure was taught young that I couldn’t get anything I wanted just by throwing a tantrum. Typically, outside of a few small dollar-store style toys, if I wanted something major, I’d ask for it and if lucky, it might appear on my birthday or under the Christmas tree. That helped teach me patience, and to save up my little allowance to buy things I really wanted months away from those times. For me, that was largely records, but at times it might be a special toy.

Paul’s Soccer (Football) game was new to me, but reminded me of a table hockey game I had for years – about a yard-long hockey “rink” with little players who slid around when you moved the metal pulls they attached to and would “shoot” the little puck, or try to block it. Like Paul’s game, it came with players in two uniforms (Toronto and Montreal I believe) but you could interchange them and there were other sets of players in other team uniforms available. Eventually I think I had 12 teams, which if memory serves, might have been the entire NHL back then. I liked it, and would sometimes play my older brother (who liked to win – a lot) or even my mother, but it wasn’t my favorite by any means nor something I could do by myself to keep me occupied when alone. The same goes for the several board games like “Monopoly” and “Careers” I had… I liked the latter one more, it seemed more creative and interesting and gave your player choices as to what they wanted to do – go to college? Get into environmentalism? Try to become famous? It was up to you.

Christian already wrote about small cars like Hot Wheels and Matchoxes, and I had quite a few of those and really liked them… in fact I wrote about the Hot Wheels once before! You can read that piece here: https://everydavelife.home.blog/2024/07/26/flashback-foto-friday-fun

They were something that I had a lot of fun with and valued for years, but they still wouldn’t necessarily take my “favorite” title. When I thought about it, there was only one real option for me – Lego.

I imagine nowadays everyone is familiar with Lego. It’s a multi-million dollar industry across varoius ends of commerce, including of course movies. You can now buy Lego kits to build realistic-looking flowers and much of their product line is now branded – Star Wars for example. It actually dates back to 1949, when a Danish carpenter came up with the idea of interlocking blocks (with the little “studs” on top that lock into the “tubes” underneath to make them sturdy when connected. He called it “Leg godt”, or “play good” which got shortened to the familiar brand name when patented in 1958. It was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame (yes, there is such a thing – part of the Museum of Play in Rochester, which sounds a fun place to visit – in 1998. But back when I was a kid, it was a rather different kind of thing, and I dare say, better.

That’s because while you could get some actual “kits” to build specific things (I seem to remember having this little firehouse kit, or at least the vehicles shown):

Mostly, it was just sold in big boxes of mixed blocks. There were white ones, red ones, probably some black ones too. Some were rounded so you could build a turret or cylindrical building if you wanted. Plus there were little doors, windows, blue ceiling shingles… all still connected with the blocks, plus a few less 3-d interlocking features like little trees, or wheel sets. Instead of following an Ikea furniture-like instruction sheet to build the kit to specification, we just used our imaginations and build what we felt like. To me that is a much more creative and ultimately satisfying toy, as much as I did like building a few scale models of real trucks in later years and have them look like the picture on the box.

I had a very large box of mixed blocks and house accessories like windows, and a case that had extra ones from smaller kits I’d been given. I mostly loved building little houses with it. The blurry picture at the top shows me (on right) at probably three or four years old, with my older brother and some of our Lego creations. You can vaguely make out a little white house with blue roof I’d built, in front of me. And as an added bonus, don’t miss that early-’70s orange wall color! I had hours of fun building the houses, making each one look a little different. Sometimes I’d even draw a sort of floorplan for a house – bedroom here, living room there, door here – on paper and try to build one with Lego. When done, I’d maybe keep it on my desk or a table for awhile, then carefully take it apart and build something new. Every once in awhile, for a change, I’d take the base board that I usually built the individual house on and would stack up blocks into little skyscrapers and create a sort of city skyline, viewed from afar. And the wheels allowed me to change it up and build little cars or vans from my imagination too.

It was a great way to spend a rainy or snowy afternoon, building houses, or little castles or whatever I fancied, having something to show for it and then, best of all, it was reusable. Of course, I guess any really incredible creations could have been preserved, but the basis of the toy snapping together and coming apart meant you could use the same set endlessly…which perhaps was why they turned to more specialized kits later. From a commercial standpoint, a toy you only have to buy the child once and they keep using perhaps limits the market potential a little.

It’s a cliché but it’s also true – it was a simpler time. And, I say, for a kid growing up, a better time. I look back on those Lego creations, and Hot Wheels and model trucks with a lot of affection. I can hardly imagine today’s six year old in 50 years looking back fondly on playing a video game for hours or texting the kid next door all night. Thanks Keith for reminding us of this!

Share Your Nostalgia

We continue with my trial run of Share Your Nostalgia, an idea suggested to me by some fellow bloggers. The topic for this feature is “The Toy of Your Life.” Was there one toy that you considered the “best?” When you think of yourself as a child, what is the toy that immediately pops into your mind? What was the toy that you brought to Show and Tell or took with you everywhere?

Today, we shine the spotlight on Christian. Christian is another one of the great music lovers I’ve connected with here on WordPress. His blog is loaded with all kinds of musical writings. He has a love for 1960’s and 1970’s music, but his blog is far from just those decades. You can check him out at Christian’s Music Musings: https://christiansmusicmusings.wordpress.com/

Take it away, Christian –

When fellow blogger Keith (Nostalgic Italian) reached out to me the other day to see whether I’d like to participate in his call for contributions about the “Toy of Your Life,” I immediately accepted. Then I thought, ‘oh, oh, what am I going to write about?’ After all, I really can’t point to one specific object that was THE toy. As such, I decided to take a bit of liberty and write about my (childhood) obsession with toy cars.

I remember my mom often told me that when I was a toddler back in Germany, I would always walk around carrying stuff in my hands. This included all kinds of pens in different colors and a Tonka-type plastic toy truck. At some point, I guess by the time of first grade, I had discovered Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. I couldn’t get enough of them. And I found an ingenious way to increase my supply!

During much of my early childhood, I had blood anemia and needed to take iron in liquid form – yuck, not a medicine I can recommend! The condition also required frequent blood

monitoring. This meant my mom had to take me our primary care doctor where they always stuck my finger to collect blood.

I was very afraid of the little needles the assistant used to take my blood and always made a big scene. On one such occasion, out of despair, my mom once told me if I would be brave, she would reward me with a Matchbox car after the doctor’s visit. While I still dreaded the needles, that sounded good to me!

And so I began accumulating Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. I played with them all the time, alone and with my best friend who I met in second grade and who I’m still fortunate to call my best friend to this day. At some point, we began building roads in the sandbox that was in the backyard of his house and taking our cars there – safe to assume a few of them got buried forever!

At some point as I grew bigger, so did the toy cars. Matchbox and Hot Wheels were out, and I started collecting cars that were about twice the size of a Matchbox car. I remember one of the brands was called Siku. One of the cars was a BMW 630CSI like the one pictured below, though I believe mine was silver.

During my early teenage years, I started collecting even bigger toy cars (1:18 scale) by Schuco and other toy car makers. Those cars had many more details and looked way more sophisticated. One, a red Mercedes 280SL convertible even had a working steering wheel. I also had a red Porsche 911 (still my favorite sports car to this day!) that looked similar to the below model, though it wasn’t a Targa.

While I kept my bigger cars on display in my room well into my late teens, once I started getting my first guitar and taking lessons, guitars became my new toy of interest, and the toy cars on the shelves started collecting dust.

While I’m older now (at least on paper!), I will say my fascination for toy cars has never entirely disappeared. When my son was a toddler and the Pixar movie Cars came out, it didn’t take much to convince papi (as he usually called me) to start collecting die-cast models of Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, Doc Hudson or Sally Carrera. In fact, oftentimes it felt papi was more excited than his son!

Even to this day when I happen to spot toy cars in the pharmacy, I sometimes stop and glance to see what kind of makes and models they have. If I were a kid, I’m sure I’d like some them, especially muscle cars.

Since I’m a music blogger, I can’t wrap up this post without some music. As such, I’m leaving you with three car/driving songs, including one titled Matchbox Cars, though it’s not about toy cars but real cars looking like Matchbox cars from the 52nd floor of a skyscraper – but, hey, close enough!

Deep Purple/Highway Star (1972) – perhaps the ultimate driving song!

Golden Earring/Radar Love (1973) – another contender for best driving song!

Coot/Matchbox Cars (2012) – from the eponymous debut album of this New Orleans-based rock band who are completely new to me – I guess they passed the audition!

As a Kid, I Was An Idiot

As a child, I wish I had thought more like Dwight Schrute (see above quote). In swapping childhood stories at work, it became very clear to me that as a child I was an idiot. Here are just a couple examples.

They’d be worth money today

In 1977-1978, my grandparents bought me and my brother the entire collection of Star Wars figures. We had them all. We played with them all the time. At some point, I guess we got “too old” or “too cool” to play with them anymore.

My buddy’s cousin (I think) used to sell fireworks out of his house. I don’t think I ever saw him sell any real big stuff, but we only used to buy bottle rockets, firecrackers, and jumping jacks from him. I’m guessing it was probably illegal, but we never said anything.

I believe we started with Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. “I wonder how far we can make these cars go if we put a bottle rocket in it?” This is an example of “Idiot Thinking.” Those cars went pretty far for sure.

It didn’t take long for us to find Star Wars figures we disliked (like the Tuscan Raider) and we started to tie them to bottle rockets. They didn’t go as far, and once the thing exploded, we’d want to see the damage done to it.

We also used to put fire crackers in their hand, which almost always held them perfectly. Why we got such a thrill out of this, I will never know. We destroyed so many figures and cars. When I look to see how much some of those figures are worth today … sigh.

Never Blew Up

Jumping Jacks were sometimes called “spinners.” They would spin and bounce and sometimes fly up in the air. These were a favorite of my friends and me.

I’m not sure who had the brilliant idea of dropping them in the sewer, but we spent many hours dropping them into the sewer and watching them spin underwater. They always made the funniest sound as they went off.

I’m not sure just how much flammable gas is in a sewer, but I should be thankful there was never an explosion!

Another Fire Tale

Back in the days before computers, people used typewriters. If you wanted to make a copy of what you were typing, you could throw a piece of carbon paper between two pieces of typing paper and when you were done, you’d have a copy.

I’m really not sure why my dad seemed to have an abundance of carbon paper at our house. I’m also not sure why it was in our garage. At any rate, we found it and my buddy said to me, “You know, if you put a match to that, it will go up really fast!”

That’s all it took for me to go in the house and grab a lighter. My buddy and I took one piece of carbon paper and took the lighter to the bottom of it – “WHOOSH!” It flamed up and disappeared in like a second. We were both amazed – and had to keep doing it. Piece after piece went up in a “Whoosh” until….

The garage door to the house opened and my dad is standing there. “What the hell are you idiots doing?,” he said. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how he found out. I think I tried to say, “Nothing,” but he knew. Our neighbor across the street was in his front doorway watching us burn those pieces of carbon paper and called my dad.

My dad yelled, “You know there is gas in here! You could light the fumes and blow up the house!” I’m sure I got one heck of a spank and was probably grounded for a week or two. Bonus: No explosion.

It Must Be a Boy Thing

The gals at my work place just laughed as the males shared our destructive tendencies. They obviously have never destroyed toys – just for fun. When our lead tech called, I asked him if he ever blew up Star Wars figures, to which he replied, “Never Star Wars figures, but I’d build Lego houses and blow them up with firecrackers!

This was the late 70’s and early 80’s. I really do not want to think about what kids today are doing “just for fun.”

Remember Fast 111’s?

It’s amazing how two people can remember different things about the same event. My brother and I chatted on the phone tonight. Today marks the 39th anniversary of the passing of our grandfather. In talking about this, my brother and I both (1) remembered that we had been at my grandma’s house the night before (he was away on a business trip) (2) remembered going to a local mall and (3) talking to him on the phone before we went home. My brother remembered a small detail that I had totally forgotten about.

He reminded me that while we were at the mall, we stopped at a toy store and bought Fast 111’s cars. They were made by Kenner and were like Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. The difference was that they each had a specific license plate that was unique to the car. There were some crazy car designs and I remember having quite a few of them. In preparing to write this blog, I did a quick Google search on Fast 111’s and was thrilled to see pictures of a few of the ones we had.

The one that I remember having was called the Saturn Seeker.

It came in the maroon color above, but also in white. This was the only picture I could find of the license plate:

The above car is obviously beat up a bit… LOL!

On the back of the packaging, you got an owner certificate where you could put your car’s license plat and everything.

As I recall, the Fast 111’s were bigger than your standard Matchbox or Hot Wheels, so they would’t fit in those carrying cases. No problem, though, as Fast 111’s had one made specifically for their cars.

I don’t recall if we ever had the models, but apparently they had them, too!

I’m glad that my brother brought this up tonight, as I had totally forgotten about these! We certainly spent many hours playing with our cars inside and outside. I wish I still had them.

My Oldest Friend

There is no excuse for taking this long to devote an entire blog to my oldest friend. It’s not like I haven’t mentioned him before in blogs, because I have, I just haven’t written one completely about him. Since today is his birthday, I thought it was time to put him in the spotlight. I jotted some thoughts down about what to include, and today in My Facebook “Memories” feed, there was a note from 9 years ago that I had written in honor of his getting older. 9 years later, the content of that note is still true today, so much of this blog is taken from that note (with some 2019 comments added)

Happy Birthday, You Old Coot – A Facebook Memory from 2009

I always knew when my dad was talking on the phone with my Uncle Tom. He would laugh uncontrollably, and there was an increase in the amount of profanity. I always envied their relationship and as a kid, and hoped to have a similar relationship when I grew up. You see, my uncle is not my dad’s brother. They grew up together in the same neighborhood and caused trouble for many neighbors. My uncle, is my Godfather, and my dad’s closest friend. A friendship that has endured through so many years.

I wrote a blog about my Uncle here:

https://wordpress.com/post/nostalgicitalian.com/241

I have a similar relationship. Jeff and I met in second grade. There are many stories I can share and a TON of stuff that no one but he and I would get, so I will just mention a few and will start with my favorite.

Jeff was a bully. I was a timid pushover. I’m almost positive that Friday was pizza day. This was back when school food was actually pretty good. EVERYONE got pizza on pizza day. (Just this week, someone posted THE recipe that was used to make pizza for school lunches and I sent it to Jeff!) My dad always made sure that I had money to buy lunch on Fridays. Little did he know, I rarely ate it. Me being the new kid, I was easily persuaded. Jeff would come over at lunch every Friday and simply look at me and say, “Give me your pizza or I’ll beat you up”. That was all it took – my pizza was his. This went on for almost a year.

One day, dad tried to give me money for pizza. I broke down and said I didn’t want to buy lunch that day. He could tell something was wrong and kept asking why. I was afraid to tell him, but he finally got out of me the reason I didn’t want pizza. He looked me dead in the eye and said, “You tell that boy that it is YOUR money, and YOUR pizza, and you are not giving it to him!” All I could imagine was the pain and bruises I would get for standing up to this kid. I was a wreck all morning.

Finally, lunch time came and I was shaking like nobody’s business. Jeff came over and gave me his typical greeting. At that point, I have no idea what came out of my mouth, but it was probably exactly what my dad told me to say verbatim. I remember Jeff looked at me, and said simply, “Hey, man, it’s cool”! He sat down next to me and we’ve been best friends ever since.

(2019) 43 years later, that story remains one of my favorites (my boys love it, too!) – it’s only appropriate to open with that one.

I recall summer days when we’d be together all day! Seriously – ALL DAY! Jeff would come over at like 8 or 9 in the morning and stay until well after the street lights came on. Those days I remember my mom and dad saying, “Don’t that kid ever go home”?! I’d go in the house and eat dinner, and he’d just hang out in the backyard and wait for me. We could play all day. Countless summer days we’d be out in my backyard with Star Wars figures, playing. We used to go up the Hoover 11 shopping center to Circus World (the toy store) and buy the latest figures.

We also used to have buckets of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars! We spent hours and hours out in the yard playing with them. In my back yard there was an area that my folks used to use as a garden. We used to go out to the dirt and build roads and make houses for the cars. We had to move to the garden….I guess the huge hole we dug in the middle of the front lawn that my dad almost fell in while cutting the grass was not a welcome addition to the landscape.

We used to play cops and robbers, or pretended we were secret agents and often fought “invisible people”. One can only imagine what it looked like to people driving by to see two kids falling down like they were just punched by …. no one! I remember Jeff came over one day with this cool looking gun. It kinda looked like a combination police special and laser gun. We all had cap guns, which looked like something out of an old western movie, but his gun was really something!! Not only did it look cool – it made a variety of noises! I don’t recall if it was a button you turned or a slider switch, but that gun could sound like a gun shot, a gun shot and ricochet, a laser beam, a huge explosion, and a few other very cool sounds which only aided in our imaginary play! Man, I wish we still had that gun!

When we weren’t at my house, we’d be at his house cause he had the latest tech gadget – the Commodore 64!!!! He always seemed to have the coolest computer stuff. I can remember him showing me these simple and crappy computer games. He was the first one of my friends to have a modem – I remember it was at his house that I first hear the sounds of a modem dialing and connecting with that annoying high pitched screech! He may also have been the first one of my friends to use AOL!!!

There was a cousin of his, I think who sold fireworks in the neighborhood. We’d buy jumping jacks and bottle rockets and shoot em off. I remember lighting the jumping jacks and dropping them in the sewer and watching them spin under the water. Obviously, we had no clue that there was the remote possibility of sewer gasses exploding every time we dropped one down there! As we got older, we’d take the Star Wars figures and attach them to bottle rockets and shoot them down the street. This is a regret now – especially knowing how much some of those things are worth to collectors today!!

To say that Jeff and I caused a little trouble growing up is kind of an understatement. I think he caused more trouble with a few of his other friends, but we got in our share, too. Jeff and I both had BB guns. His had the CO2 cartridge which, of course, made the BB’s go farther and faster! I remember the screen in his mom’s bedroom was full of BB holes. Why? Because we used to shoot at the garage door of his neighbor across the street. Every time that BB “tinked” against the door, we laughed. How many other things did we shoot BB guns at? Well, too many to recall. I will say that I don’t recall ever shooting at anything alive!

We’d stay out till dark – every night! We often took walks around the block or walked up the school. When it was time for me to go inside, I’d walk Jeff part of the way home. He ended up having to walk farther than me, and I always hated walking back home in the dark. I remember we’d walk to a bush that was about half way down my street and that’s where he’d keep walking to his house and I’d turn around and walk back to mine. A few years ago, I noticed that bush was removed by the current resident.

Another thing I recall doing was recording our “stupidity” on cassette tapes. Now normally, you hit the Play and Record Buttons to record something. I don’t recall if it was me or Jeff who figured out that if you hit Record and Fast Forward, the tape recorded at a slower speed, so whatever you recorded sounded twice as fast when you played it back. Our voices ended up sounding like The Chipmunks. Jeff did a spot on imitation of his grandma answering the phone on tape! We spent countless days recording stuff – including farts. Farts are already funny to kids – farts played back twice as fast are just flat out hilarious!!!!

There was a brief period of time that I was told I was not allowed to hang out with Jeff. My folks were gone and my aunt was babysitting us. I don’t remember all that led up to it, but we were probably purposely aggravating my brother. He came out front and was swinging one of those dog chains. You know the ones that connect to the post you put in the ground? He was swinging it around the top of his head like a lasso or something. He was getting close to Jeff, so Jeff pulled out this little pocket knife (the blade was probably less than and inch long and cheap as hell!). My brother told my aunt, who told my mom and dad and I was not allowed to speak to him or hang out with him. I was devastated, but as a young kid, I did what my mom and dad said. Eventually, we started talking again at school (because who can stop a true friendship, right!?). I think we told my mom that the knife was plastic or wood or something. Years later, even my mom said the whole thing was stupid.

It was probably during the time I was not supposed to be talking with Jeff that our house was broken into. My dad and I were bowling at Dad-Lad Night at Pastime Lanes (where I would eventually spend many weeks on a league) and mom was out bowling at another place (with my grandpa, I think). After dad and I were done, we went to see my mom and then came home. Our dog, Lucy was outside barking and we knew something was wrong. Whoever broke in didn’t take much as I remember. I know the microwave was gone, and there was stuff thrown all over the place. My paper route money was still on my bed and not touched, yet my wallet was taken. I say that this happened around the time that Jeff and I weren’t talking, because I remember my dad saying something like, “I bet that troublemaker, Jeff, had something to do with this!” He didn’t!

Speaking of my paper route, Jeff often helped me deliver. He’d take one side of the street and I’d do the other. He would often go out collecting the money from customers for that week. Sometimes my grandpa took us out to deliver in his car. We probably drove my grandpa nuts! We’d always be laughing and whenever my grandpa asked about Jeff, he was referred to as “the crazy one!”

One of the weirdest guys we had to collect from was this old guy who always seemed to answer the door with his shirt off. He always wanted to talk for 10 minutes before handing me the money (from his little plastic change purse). It drove me crazy! It was Jeff, who noticed that the guy had no nipple on one of his breasts! From that day forward, the man was known as “no nips”!

Despite the fact that Jeff went to another school for Junior High, we still kept in touch. Sometimes he’d sneak into his mom’s liquor cabinet and we’d go up to the elementary school playground and drink it. We spent HOURS on that playground just talking – and occasionally drinking. We were such punks. I remember one time, we had been to the school drinking the remaining drops of cheap schnapps. We decided we wanted to get some snacks and a pop. We walked across 10 Mile and stopped at Quick Pick. Both of us walked out with chips and a bottle of Dr. Pepper. Jeff crossed into the middle lane, and I stayed back to wait for a car. As the car passed and I walked closer to Jeff, I watched his hand (like it was in slow motion) let go of the Dr. Pepper bottle (which was made of glass at this time) and the bottle shattered onto 10 Mile. I walked up to him and asked him what happened and he said “I was looking at the bottle and wondered what would happen if if fell – and it did.” Not sure why that is still funny to me, but it is.

It seems like we always ate lunch at Wendy’s (with money his mom had given him)! There are WAY too many stories about the trouble we caused there together (and with Mike Smith). Another place we’d cause trouble was at Hoover 11. We often went there walking in and out of stores and just annoying people. I don’t recall where we got them, maybe from Jeff’s older brother, but we had some packages of condoms. We were probably still in junior high or just starting high school. We were such idiots – we blew them up and stuck them in our shorts and walked around Hoover 11! Anything for a laugh or for attention, right, Jeff?!

Jeff and I ALWAYS can get each other laughing – many times when laughter is inappropriate. I actually blogged about that here:

https://wordpress.com/post/nostalgicitalian.com/719

Back in the days of early cable TV, it was Jeff who told me about this ridiculous movie starring the Hudson Brothers called “Hysterical”. Don’t let the title fool you – it is FAR from hysterical! It’s fairly stupid, yet there are a few scenes in the movie that we still quote to each other while normal people look at us and wonder if we are sane! If you ever stumble on this turd, know that Jeff and I can do the “dance” scene from this movie flawlessly!

I have probably embarrassed him enough today, but it’s his 49th birthday and I don’t have money for a birthday gift, so this blog is the best I can do. I also should get a little serious to wrap it up.

Through the many changes in life, girlfriends, wives, children, etc… we’ve always been there for each other. Even when we both decided to move. He went to Vegas for a few months, and I went to Ludington for a few. You can read about the cool thing we did when he moved to Vegas here:

https://wordpress.com/post/nostalgicitalian.com/606

I’m not sure there is anyone I can talk to, like I can talk to Jeff. Our friendship shares so many things. We both lost our mothers to cancer at an early age, we both have strong faith, and we’ve both had our share of difficult times. It is in those times, we’ve been able to call each other and vent. We can talk about work, our kids, and everything. He has always been the first call I make when I need to talk.

(Side funny to this serious portion of the blog: Sam says she always knows when I am on the phone with Jeff, even though she can only hear one side of the conversation. She says our conversation usually involves 3 things: Beer, Butts and Boobs…and occasionally farts!)

Today, this bum finally caught up to me and turned 49. 43 years of friendship! What an amazing blessing! I’m not going out to buy him a Hallmark card, because no card could ever express how glad I am that he’s my best, and oldest friend. So Happy Birthday to you, Jeff. Thanks for all the great times we’ve shared through the years. Thanks for the laughs and for being like my Uncle Tom was to my dad. I can only hope that my boys will view our friendship as something they aspire to have with someone when they grow up. Thanks for being a friend, a counselor, a sounding board, and a brother to me all these years. Here’s looking to the future!

Oh, and when I told Jeff I was going to blog about him, he wanted to clarify: He says he is not “a bully” because it is such a harsh word. He said that he was an “opportunist who saw an opportunity …. and exploited it as long as I could!”

Consider it clarified, my friend.

To: S. Claus. North Pole.

December 19, 2018

Dear Santa,

I know it has been some time since I have written a letter to you, and I bet you are wondering why I have chosen to do so after all these years. Well, to be honest, there have been a lot of changes in my life over the past few years. I am seeing life with different eyes, and it is wonderful! I have made a decision to weed out negativity and to stay positive. There is too much judgment, hate, and sadness in the world and I have done what I can to steer clear of that. By doing so, I have found great happiness. So, why am I writing to you, you ask?

The answer is that I am not sure. It may be the combination of a couple of things. First, I have played the song Grown Up Christmas List a few times at the radio station, and this year the words hit me a bit harder than in previous years. Second, I’ve watched a few movies where the lack of Christmas Spirit has played a big role in the plot, and I fear my Christmas Spirit may be lacking. Third, I am newly married to a beautiful woman who has changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to explain. She has brought about a happiness that has been absent from my life for way too long. Finally, after my annual reading of A Christmas Carol, I have pondered some things about the future, while thinking about the present and the past.

The Christmas season has always brought me great joy. As a little boy, rushing out to see what you had left under the tree, I remember being overcome with happiness! I recall the many notes that you left for my brother and I each Christmas morning. I recall the notes that you left for my sons years later. (We often wondered (and I still do) how you could eat so many cookies and never gain weight!) What an amazing job you have! To quote Stan Freberg in his record Christmas Dragnet, you’re the only guy who “can make everybody happy in one night.”

With the passing of many years, I now sit here to write you this letter. I want to say first of all, thank you for the many gifts that you have brought over the years. While I was never too keen on the socks and underwear, as an adult I do realize that they were something I needed. Thank you for the Millennium Falcon, the numerous Star Wars figures, the countless books and movies, as well as the straight mute for my trumpet. Thank you for the various games, Hot Wheels cars, my bike with the cool handlebars, and the Sound Gizmo! Thank you for the many Lego sets, the Wii, and the toys you brought for my sons! Before I give you my list of requests, I wanted to be sure that you are aware of just how grateful I am for the many gifts of Christmas Past.

I do realize that you get many requests, and this is probably your busiest time of year, but I hope it is not too late you ask you for a few things. This list is kind of a tall order. Take all the time you need on them, I will understand.

For Kids

I have noticed that children seem to be growing up faster than they should. It is almost as though their innocence is taken from them sooner than it should be. My first wish is that they be allowed to be kids and do kid things for longer periods of time. Allow them to play and imagine! Allow them to experience the happiness and freedom of not being an adult. Shield them from the miseries, tragedies, and unpleasant things of the modern world. Allow them to share more smiles and less tears. Fill their lives with laughter and people who care. Protect them from harm and needless worry. Allow them to experience the magic of childhood, free from cruelty and bullying. Children are our future and we need them!

The Nations of the World

It seems that every time I hear a news report, there is a story about crimes related to gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and racism. When will the people in charge realize that the more we are different, the more we are the same?! The words of Maya Angelou ring true here – “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” I hope you can help us with this. We all come from a family. We all have the ability to love. We all have the capability to do good. We all have the ability to problem solve and to find “middle ground”. We all can take advantage of the power of “compromise”. My secnd wish is that you please help people to remember the following powerful quote: “We are all one race – the human race – and we are all members of it.”

Financial Freedom?

This one is a bit of a sore spot. Is it too much to ask that people be allowed to earn a living? I’m not talking about overabundant wealth, because you and I know that sometimes comes with its own set of troubles. My third wish is that people have the ability to go and work at a job and make enough money to live debt free. That they have the ability to live within their means, and enjoy life. Now, I am completely aware that there are many people who suffer because of their own addictions and actions. I am not talking about those people. However, there should be no reason for someone to have to work two and three jobs while their spouse works more than one job and still struggle to make ends meet. I hope you understand, I am not against working! I have a college education (and student loan debt out the ying yang) and I have a good job. Many people are just like me and struggle to keep their heads above water. Perhaps you and the elves can find a way to help out the ‘average Joe’ ? We are worrying too much, working too much, and stressed beyond belief. They say we need to stop and smell the roses, but it seems that life won’t let us slow down enough to do that.

Enough with the Cancer

This one is a bit selfish. This cancer thing has taken some people from me who I loved very much. It’s not just me, though – cancer has taken people from some of my friends, too. Let’s face it, it is out of control! Cancer is a monster that knows no age, I learned that when I visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Kids should never have to deal with fighting cancer and their parent’s shouldn’t have to be burdened with all that treatment entails! You’ve got connections, right? You have to know people who can finally find a cure for this. Maybe you can even help us figure out what is the cause of cancer and why we see so much of it? The elves can magically whip up any and every toy imaginable – isn’t there something you can do to help us find a cure for cancer? If you can figure this out, maybe we could tackle the other health issues and diseases, too!

For Me, Personally

Before I close, I do have a few personal requests to make. If possible, throughout the year, please help me to be a good husband, a good father, and a good friend. Send along little reminders throughout the year that remind me to be like Scrooge and keep the Christmas Spirit throughout the year. Help me to be a giver of gifts that do not cost anything:

The Gift of Listening. Help me to REALLY listen to others! No interrupting. No planning my response. No daydreaming. Just truly listening.
The Gift of Affection. Help me to be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, hand holding and pats on the back. Help me to show my family and friends how much I treasure them.
The Gift of Laughter. Help me to spread a smile. Help me to bring joy and help others forget their worries and stresses. Help me to always make people happy!
The Gift of Writing. Help me to expand on the writing that I enjoy. Help me to find topics that others find interesting and thought-provoking. Help me to remember that sometimes a handwritten note is sometimes more meaningful than a phone call or meaningless text message.
The Gift of a Compliment. Help me to always compliment someone on a job well done. Help me to compliment someone on a simple haircut or new outfit. Help me to never let someone’s work be unnoticed.
The Gift of a Favor. Help me to always do something nice for others. Help me to lend a hand. Help me to assist those who need something. Help me always think of ways to lend a hand.
The Gift of a Cheerful Disposition. Help me to always wear a smile. Help me to stay positive. Help me find the positives in a negative world. Help me to spread cheer through a smile.
The Gift of Solitude. Help me to be conscious of when someone needs a few moments to themselves. Help me to respect when someone does not want to talk or share feelings. Help me to occasionally get this gift for myself, too.

Thanks for taking the time to read my letter. Thanks for spreading Christmas Cheer throughout the entire world. Thank you for the awe and wonder that you bring to little children who look forward to your yearly visit. On behalf of parents everywhere, thank you for helping those little ones steer away from doing wrong and making an extra effort to be on their best behavior.

Merry Christmas, Santa!

Keith