www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall FOR THOSE OF US OVER 50!

James,

Done. We old guys have trouble remembering this stuff .

Will do - before I forget ; was going to post it to the thread that Father Mike began.

Yes, it is. The most recent closings in the Boston Archdiocese included one parish in particular that had special memories for me.

Many years,

Neil

To be young again . . .

My prized possession was a mini transistor radio the size of a cigarette pack, made in "China." I can't remember which of the 2 Chinas at that time, Red China or Taiwan (Formosa), but for sure it was smuggled into the country!

It was a high school graduation gift from my oldest sibling, a brother (may he rest in peace), who worked part-time in a boat ferry.

I brought the radio along with me when I started college in 1964, to the chagrin of a younger brother who wanted it badly. He wanted to exchange his fake "Rolex" ("Roflex" made in Hong Hong) with my mini radio!

My radio could only pick up 1 or 2 stations in Manila and could barely hear anything from it. But it came with a mini earphone which made listening more audibly clear, sufficient enough to catch the occasional long-distance dedication of a love song by a forlorn lover to his inamorata!

The "Korean War" just ended about 10 years prior from where a maternal uncle came home wounded, having served in one of 5 BCTs sent by my country to the peninsula as part of the U.N. Forces.

The "Vietnam War" pick up where the Korean War left off and was raging in 1964.

Neil, the Irish Melkite, must have been preparing to go to war then (or was already there)! While Cassius Clay converted to Islam and became Muhammad Ali and successfully dodged the draft on the basis of his new found faith.

We had no cars. Nor TVs, not even B&W. Drama series or events were religiously followed over radio. We rode our horses or carabaos (water buffaloes), or the highly valued bicycle, if need be. Motor bikes and tricycles (motorized or pedal-pushed) were rare, and expensive, and they were all called "Honda."

Luckily, my father was able to save enough cash to purchase a run-down World War II vintage "Jeep" and he and my elder brother converted it into a colorful, diesel-powered passenger "jeepney." It lasted forever!

I am nearing the bigger "60" like Fr. Gregory and Neil and I have been splurging and slurping on those oatmeals like there is no tomorrow because of Type 2 D.

But, Charles, we could still sow wild oats if the occasion calls for it!

Amado !!!

Oh no, you don't ... don't try to make me older than you

I, too, went off to college in 1964, convinced that ROTC was the way to go ... how did I know that Lieutenant bars were considered a better target opportunity

Didn't head to VietNam until 1969, after a year in beautiful San Antonio, TX, courtesy of Uncle Sam also (where I learned that the Alamo was a whole heck of a lot smaller than I had ever imagined ).

Many years (oh, yes, so very many )

Neil

Of course we could, but don't tell Fr. Gregory. He will be after us to go to confession.

Dear Charles,

As long as the oats are domesticated, you are O.K.!

Who was it that said, "Everything in the Catholic Church is forbidden, until it becomes mandatory."



Alex

In '67 I headed off to San Antonio too.

Air Force what a life: three cooked meals a day, roof over your head, young and crazy, having a good - humm well then I thought it was a good time - all I had to do was report for work on time.

Awww those were the good ol' days

Watching the guys go off to Nam from Shepard was no fun at all. Those were not such good ol' times.

Being in Washington DC and seeing the mall covered up by protesters was interesting. Watching Kent State on TV while my husband was on campus was not interesting.

The good ol' days hurrumph

Rose,

You folks did have the best messhalls and PXs though, as well as really modern barracks . A trip to Lackland, to visit a friend in basic training over there, made me realize that I had chosen the wrong branch of service .

Am I right about the Alamo? Based on 'Davy Crockett', weren't you expecting something much bigger and more majestic ? After seeing it, I wondered how they managed to defend it for as long as they did. It looked, up close, like the walls could have been scaled by a strong broadjumper.

Many years,

Neil

Thanks for this thread, Father Gregory, and all who have posted to it thus far. The smiles that I've gotten from it have helped me to get through an otherwise very bad afternoon.

Many years,

Neil

Thanks for this thread, Father Gregory, and all who have posted to it thus far. The smiles that I've gotten from it have helped me...

AMEN!!!

Neil said we had modern barracks , my room mate at Shepard was from New Jersey, had never seen westen roaches or pine beetles...boy she was brave.

I had to tell her what she was swating and killing off the walls with her bare hand. :p I guess the bugs didn't know they were modern or modern didn't stop the bugs!

Pani Rose
Who has forgotten many things!

Neil mentions the "Insurance Man" coming to the door. I remember not only the milk man delivering milk, butter, etc, to our door, but in my Aunt's house when I was still quite small the "ice man" still cometh to deliver a big block of cut ice for her big, wooden icebox which, correct me if I am wrong, lasted almost a week before melting and he did cometh again. Once in a while I still call the refrigerator the "ice box".

Mary Jo

Mary Jo,

My Grandpa Tim was an iceman and carried those blocks up 3 flights in the typical Boston and suburb tenements until he was 70 years old, when he and his boss and friend, Mr. Wilson (who was 75) decided that there was "no future in ice" (this was about 1950) and retired. My father used to say that he became a mailman rather than an iceman because it was easier to hang weight from your shoulder than carry it on your shoulder .

Many years,

Neil, who has also been known to call the "fridge", the "icebox"

I do remember ice boxes. My family didn't have one, but the neighbor across the street did. As a child, I was intrigued by the sign she put out once a week indicating how much ice she wanted, the guy coming in the truck, and then carrying the ice blocks with ice tongs into the house. I also remember that the ice compartment in the ice box had a memorable smell - kind of like the turned off refrigerator smell, or at least that's as close as I can describe it. I remember the Fort Campbell army barracks buildings that were totally of wood, and supposedly would burn in 7 minutes flat, so we had frequent fire drills, and usually at odd hours of the night. Actually, that was a pretty good place to be stationed. I had one of the transistor radios mentioned earlier, and that was early 60s high technology. The Vietnam part was really sad, especially when I saw it destroy the lives of some of my friends. I think the casualty counts would be much higher from that war if the ones who returned, but were damaged forever by it, were counted. However, it seems we all survived that time period and are probably better people because of what we learned from it.

Dear Charles and Neil,

I remember my grandfather Nicholas, of blessed memory, in his unique combination of using both Greek and English in one sentence (LOL--atleast he stuck to English in his business) call the freezer "to (GR. for 'the') icebox"!

I vaguely remember those last days of the milk man who used to leave the bottles outside our kitchen door...

...but then, as Charles, said--I am still a teenager!!! :p

Alice

I was too young to go to Vietnam, but old enough to follow it on TV. Still I remember, Trolley Cars in Chicago, Scissors sharpeners who came around the neighborhood, fruit peddlers, who were always Italian or Greek, and had funny ways of pronouncing words like Banan-oe. Sonic booms. A Ma and Pa grocery store on almost every single block. Christmas carols about Jesus in the public school system. Seeing priests and nuns walk past your house every day. Riverview, which I only made it to once, and being able to get into Wrigley Field or Comiskey Park for just one dollar.

Hi Lawrence,

We seem to be about the same age, and your description of life as you remember it sounds wonderful!!

Times were so much simpler then, and I think that it was a very, very good thing....*sigh*

Only, we would not have been able to know and share with one another then as there would have been no computer.

In Christ,
Alice