Dreamtime- February 27,  2016- 1987 Again

I was sitting on the couch in my living room reading the TV Guide one moment and the next I was in the basement of our old apartment. I was sitting on the bean bag chair made of blue jean type material. A music magazine was in my hands.

   

   The page that I was looking at had an article about John Taylor on it. The picture of him was very nice. He looked as he did in Duran Duran’s Notorious album days. I was so happy to see this.

  

   My outfit was different in this reality. I was wearing the gray top with geometric designs and belt with Chic jeans like I used to have. Mom would usually get me that brand and PS Gitano from Bradlees, the department store that she worked at.

  

   I was sort of jealous of my classmates who had the more expensive designer brands like Jordache,   Sassoon, Gloria Vanderbilt, Calvin Klein, and Sergio Valente.

   

   It was odd that my bedroom was not in the cellar. I saw my Teddy bear calendar on the wall- it was April 1987. By then, my room had been down there for about a year and 9 months.

   

   My brother’s room was here though. My parent’s had built it in 1982, I think. We used to have to share the big bedroom upstairs.

   

   This section of the cellar was still as it had been before that, including the tan carpet. The brown paneling was a part of the décor for as long as I could remember and remained there as part of my room.

   

   The bean bag chair was placed in the center. I remember it mostly being up in the sitting room, which was formerly my bedroom.

   

   The blue couch was up against the wall with the end table next to it. My small, black Panasonic boom box was on that table.

  

   The big wooden stereo/TV cabinet was there too. It was in our living room in the 1970s. Sliding doors were on the front of this. The television was in the center and on top of it was the turntable underneath a cover. I can’t remember if the stereo had AM/FM.

   

   The compartment for records was next to the TV.  Mostly, my parent’s albums- Johnny Cash, Elvis, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Christmas ones by various artists-were in it. A few of my brother’s and my Disney records- It’s A Small World, Mary Poppins, and The Best of Disney – were too. We still have all of these.

  

   I loved having a furnished basement. The one that we have in our current apartment is pretty creepy. I hate even going down there to do the laundry.

  

   Was I home alone? So far, it seemed that way. But then I heard someone coming down the stairs. When I looked over at the staircase, I saw my Ginger pup. I was extremely happy to see her.

  

   Ginger was such a good and beautiful doggie. She was a terrier mix. I think that she might have had some Shetland sheepdog in her too. She looked somewhat like the famous dog Benji.

  

   I sat up on the couch and Ginger jumped up next to me. I gave her a big hug and she licked my cheek. It was wonderful that she was still alive in this fantasy world. Dad had her put to sleep in November of 1986 in reality.

  

   I will always be mad at him for this. He never even had the vet find out what was making her so sick. It might have just been an infection that meds could have cured.

  

   I petted her and told her how much that I love her. She would always comfort me whenever I was feeling sad. I hope that I get to see her again in the afterlife.

   

   The radio magically came on then. I heard Casey Kasem talking; his “America’s Top 40” was on. The next song was Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”.

   

   I wasn’t even into that group back then but did have a poster of Jon on the wall. I had won it at a ring toss game down the shore. I thought that he was kind of cute which is why I kept it and put it there.

   

   My interest in Bon Jovi wasn’t until 2000 and lasted about 11 years. It was never as intense as the Duran Duran one though. Is it weird that I wasn’t a big fan of either until many years later than my classmates?

  

   I went over to the cabinets that our grandfather had built into the wall. We kept our games, Tupperware, and other items in there. As I was about to open one of them, the scenery began to fade. It was disappointing that I didn’t get to remain in the alien holodeck for any longer but I was glad that I did have a bit of time with my sweet doggie.

Bean bag chair

Ginger

Note- the 3rd photo of the Panasonic boom box is from the internet, as is the magazine.

December 24, 2015- Church

Mass was so boring. I would often daydream during it. I did like it at Christmas time though, esp. the songs. Mike and I were always embarrassed by our mom’s singing, which is kind of mean. Dad hated when we didn’t go to church anymore; 1986 was about the last year for the 3 of us.

   

   I didn’t really like doing that “Peace be with you” handshake thing during Mass. That’s what we said when we were doing this, right? It’s terrible that I don’t remember this for sure but that I have a vivid memory of that cute usher guy; he looked a little like NY Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry. God must be so displeased with me.

    

   My brother reminded me recently that he was an altar boy. I was afraid to ask him for how long. I don’t think that it was more than a year. He gets into anti- religious rants sometimes and fails to respect our beliefs, naturally. This is very upsetting to us.

   

   Mike and I were talking about Pope John Paul II yesterday. I mentioned the poster of him that he had won at our school’s carnival in the early 80s. We played a ring toss game with posters as prizes. I won a Bee Gees in the Sgt. Pepper’s movie one which I didn’t really want.  I still have the pin and bookmark of the Pope; he wishes that he had kept this poster.

Note- The Ron Guidry photo is from the internet. We used to have this; it was part of a booklet with all the Yankee players. I think that was the 1983 season. I wish that we had kept this and the Yankees yearbooks from 1983-1988. I sold the latter at a flea market.

February 21, 2017- More Childhood Memories- Part 3

NYC

Mike was recently talking to Mom about the time that we went to NYC to see Regis Philbin on “The Morning Show “in the early 80s. He was mainly mentioning that Dad was a cheapskate that day. He took the 3 of us to lunch at Woolworths instead of trying to find a more unique place to eat. Mike remembers that he got a BLT sandwich. He seems to have a good memory for food related things.

Wildwood

Mike and I were reminiscing about our childhood vacations to Wildwood. He mentioned the tram cars on the boardwalk. I can still hear it’s prerecorded “Watch the tram car, please” message/warning in my head. He laughed when I said it aloud.

   

   Kathy and I had our pictures taken in one of the photo booths there. My brother stuck his hand into this thinking that we were still in it but two other people were by then. I wonder why we don’t have those photos anymore.

   

   Mike won his binoculars, Pink Panther pewter figures (I wish that he still had them), and a Walkman at one of the arcades. He used points from the games on them. We really enjoyed playing Skee-Ball there. Kathy and her Mom’s favorite was Fascination. I can’t remember what I won with my points. I do know that I never got as many as my brother and Kathy did.

Tram Car

Skee Ball

Fascination

                        

                        

The Van

Mike reminded me that we used to be driven to our grade school in a van for a year- or was it two? I am pretty sure that it was the same avocado green one that Miss K., our Girl Scout leader and 4^th grade teacher, used when our troop went on trips. I can’t remember if it was her or someone else, like a classmates’ parent, who did the driving.

   

   Did the school or Miss K own this van?  There might have even been another similar one that was possibly owned by Miss M, our troops’ co-leader and my classmate’s mother.

1973 Ford Econoline Van

Note- photos from internet- tram car, Skee Ball, Fascination, and the van

February 21, 2017- More Childhood Memories- Part 2

Braces and Dad’s Train Set

Mike was talking about some childhood memories that I had remembered incorrectly. I had thought that Mom paid for our braces but he said that she told him that this expense was covered under Dad’s GM dental plan. Another one was about Dad’s train set- it didn’t have the steam coming out of the locomotive. Dad’s friend Junior had that kind and he was jealous of him because of this. It did make the train noises though.

Braces- 1980

1969

 

           

 Fireworks

I asked Mike the name of the fireworks mail order catalog that he got in the mid-80s. He said that it was Blue Angel. I thought so but I just wanted to know for sure. Mike got in trouble for having fireworks. One of our neighbors- it might’ve been Mrs. K- called the cops when he was setting them off. He bought these during our trip to Virginia in 1986 either in that state or Maryland. 

    

   Fireworks- even the sparklers- scare me. We had little tanks a couple of times. I remember Grandma Next-Door being frightened when one of those got close to her.

Internet photos

    

                        

 Long Walks

In the mid-1980s, Mom and I dropped our 1984 Buick Century off at the Westfield dealership/service center for repairs or an oil change. We walked all the way home, which had to have been about 5 miles. We stopped at Sal’s Deli for soda during this long trek. Sal used to work at the Butcher Block. I was surprised that he actually remembered me as one of its customers.

  

   I remember another long walk that I took around the same time period. My brother and I had missed the bus home from our high school in Scotch Plains. I guess that our parents weren’t home or we just decided to not even bother calling them. That was about a 5 mile journey as well.

February 21- More Childhood Memories- Part 1

My Name

I kind of didn’t like my name until I was in my late teens. I hardly ever used to correct people when they mispronounced it. I saw Sister D, our grade school principal, about 14 years ago and she still called me Laura. I pictured saying “My name is Lara, not Laura” but part of me was thinking it is many years too late to say that. I’m sure that a lot of people would disagree. I would have felt too anxious doing so though, especially to a nun. They sort of scare me which is rather ridiculous.

Family and Childhood Dreams

Aunt Agnes and Uncle Fred lived in the apartment near the carnival grounds. It was just up the street from ours back then. Mom, Mike, and I visited them occasionally.

   

   Aunt Agnes was the sister of either Mom’s father or mother. I should ask her or Mike which it is. She had such nice knick-knacks on the shelves in her living room. I didn’t want to get too close to them for fear that I might accidentally break one.

   

   I used to enjoy telling Uncle Fred about some of my dreams, like the ones that had characters from “Battle of The Planets” in it. My brother and I liked that cartoon a lot. He seemed really interested in hearing about this.    

                                              

                                                    

Black and White TV

My brother and I used to share the big bedroom in our old 2 room apartment when we were kids. We started doing so in the late 1970s. We had a little black and white TV in there. I remember that we watched the Channel 9 news sometimes on it. We switched over to Channel 7’s news by 1983.

                                                       

Bean Bag Chairs

In the 80s, we had a beanbag chair made out of jean material that I liked a lot. I am pretty sure that we had a red leather-type one too. I remember that the former was very inexpensive. Mom probably bought it at Bradlees. She worked at that department store for about 9 years.

                                                                        

                                                                  

Jeans

Mom would usually get me Chic and PS Gitano jeans from Bradlees, the department store where she worked. I was sort of jealous of my classmates who had the more expensive designer brands like Jordache, Sassoon, Gloria Vanderbilt, Calvin Klein, and Sergio Valente. I think that I had a pair of the latter, either as a clearance sale item or as hand-me-downs from a family friend.

Note- Photos from the internet- Jeans, Battle of the Planets

                  

       

Childhood Food Memories-Part 3

-Girl Scouts- A couple of times we made Rice Krispies treats at camp. We also made S’mores. I’m pretty sure that when I first started selling their cookies that they were .75 cents per box. Our favorites were Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, and Scot Teas.

-Cookies – Lorna Doones, Oreos, Nutter Butter, Vienna Fingers, Nila Wafers, Social Teas, Windmills (ginger type), animal crackers, Fig Newtons,; Pepperidge Farms Milanos and Chessmen.

-Candy –Gertrude Hawk brand, Mounds, Peppermint Patties, Reese’s, Snickers, Milky Ways, Three Musketeers, Nestle Crunch, Kit Kats, Raisinettes, Hershey’s, and Special Dark. Mrs. K is the one who got me to try dark chocolate from the Hershey’s Assorted Miniatures in the late 1970s and I’ve loved it ever since then.

  

   Mom and I did candy making, sometimes with Kathy and Helen who got us into this. We bought some really nice molds, especially for the holidays.

-Snack Cakes- Devil Dogs, Funny Bones, Yodels, Twinkies, Cupcakes, Scooter Pies, Suzy Q’s (Mom’s nickname for me), and  Tastykakes- Peanut Butter KandyKakes, lemon pie, and Krimpets (Butterscotch and Jelly)

   

   Our neighbor Mrs. M’s daughter worked at Drakes and gave us a lot of their snack cakes once. We put some of them in the freezer.

-Barbeque Parties- My favorite memory is the time that Mrs. K bought over lots of ears of corn to our house in the early 1980s. It was so sweet and delicious. I think that I had 3 ears of this.

  

   Mom’s coworker/friend, Jan S, made some delicious chocolate cupcakes with a butter cream filling for one of our mid-80’s get-togethers. We asked for the recipe but she said it was a secret. My brother and I hid some so we’d have extra for ourselves.

  

   At our neighbor Mrs. S’s party, we had a delicious fruit salad- cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, and watermelon. There might have been strawberries in it too. This was in a bowl made from the rind of the watermelon.    

Note- All photos are from the internet