This past week we attended a funeral service in Orlando. A dear longtime friend has departed this ole earth but the memory of him and the legacy he leaves behind will long be in my memory bank as it will be for the so many who knew him.I am confident Leo left a positive touch on those he encountered throughout his 94 years. Even til the last day of his earthly existence, he always put forward an active "can do" effort never ceasing to give in to several types of cancer over the past several years. His ongoing attitude constantly looking to the future is a "true legacy" in itself. He was an avid golfer all his life even playing only two weeks prior to his final day. On his last day he had traveled a distance for a family event and upon returning home, he had backed his car into a narrow section of his garage (I still can't do that!). That evening while settled in to his favorite chair, watching TV, He went to sleep and woke up in heaven.
We all will miss you my dear friend. If you can somehow hear me, I just want to say "thank you" for touching so many lives and "thank you" for truly "LEAVING A LEGACY" in its truest form.
In favor to Leo, here is an Anonymous poem:
" Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep,
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am a diamond glint on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain,
When you wake in the morning hush;
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night,
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep."
-Anonymous
We will miss you, my friend!
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
4.01.2011
Nostalgic Tidbit: It is funny how some of our likes and dislikes from an early age follow us throughout life. I have never tired of the taste of bread. In the 50’s, I only remember us having white bread all the time. Wheat and rye bread existed, I think, but for our family it was white bread all the way. Think of all the bread choices we have nowadays…” It is now a bread lover’s paradise just when I shouldn’t eat so much of it”!
Chapter 17
My Epitaph
When I say I was a bread lover from the first taste, I
don’t mean that I was someone who really liked
bread…I loved it! I still do this very day. While
growing up in the 50’s, Mom and Dad would always
go grocery shopping on Saturday afternoons at the
Margaret Ann store in Winter Haven
later bought out by Winn Dixie. Anyway, they would
always buy a loaf or two of bread to last the week for
sandwiches, etc. Under normal circumstances, that
amount might be sufficient for three growing boys
BUT, one of them (Me)…felt he could live on bread
alone.
We came up short on the bread supply well before the
week was over many times. I honestly could sit and eat
an entire loaf of bread along with a cola and be as
happy as possible. What can I say, I was a simple
child. Even today, my wife accuses me of that
sometimes! I even got creative and made mayonnaise
sandwiches, mustard sandwiches, ketchup sandwiches,
and my favorite of all, to this day…banana and
peanut butter sandwiches. Through the years, even as
an adult, I have continued to enjoy bread of every kind,
from the tasteless hotdog buns to gourmet breads
freshly baked. I can always make a meal to enjoy with
bread alone.
Even at that early age, I established an identity as an
unusual bread lover.
That identity follows me still. I have often told friends
that if I was on death row or on my death bed and had
one last request for food…guess what it would be?
I have teased my wife that whenever I depart this
world, I want my epitaph to read: “He tried to live
on bread alone”.
Somehow, I doubt she will honor that request!
Time for me to stop writing…hot bread is coming out
of the oven.
Departing Challenge
There are so many other thoughts and stories I could
share with you but I will wait to do so in future
writings. As you have followed me down some early
memories of my life, it is my hope that you have been
stimulated to capture and make note of some of your
own reflections of the past. I encourage you to write
them down and then determine a format in which you
wish to memorialize to your family and friends. You
will be glad you did! I know your loved ones will
appreciate it beyond what any words can express.
We all have a legacy to leave…We all have a choice
as to how we will be remembered!
How do you choose
to be
remembered?
3.28.2011
REFLECTIONS- "Growing up in the50's"- Chapter 16- Saturday Afternoon at the Movies
Nostalgia Tidbit : Going to the movies for the first time ever was an amazing experience. It is something I will never forget. This time period was before anyone I knew had ever seen or even heard of a TV. The Big Screen became a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Chapter 16
Saturday Afternoon at the Movies
In the early 50s, the downtown movie theater in
Auburndale was the only entertainment hotspot
around. The indoor theatre was called “The Auburn
Theatre” and the drive in theatre in town was called
the “Dale Drive In”. Get it? The Auburn
were appropriate for a town called Auburndale. At the
time I thought that was really creative!
The first time I went to the movies, I can remember
being frightened to death once I saw the moving
picture on that big screen. I know it was a western
and a lot of loud shooting going on. I don’t recall the
name of the movie.
All I know is I had my eyes closed and fingers
in my ears the whole time.
Keep in mind, seeing a moving picture for the first
time ever was a major experience. At that point, I had
never seen or even heard of a TV. Books and radio had
been it.
Finally, I adapted to the wonderful experience of
watching movies. Saturday afternoon’s became one of
the great highlights for the entire gang.
It was about a two mile walk to the downtown theatre
and we did it many times on Saturday afternoons over
the next several years. The cost of admission was 15
cents.
You could sell three cola bottles and you had your
ticket to the movies.
Popcorn and candy were reasonable as well.
An afternoon at the movies always included a double
feature, a cartoon, and lots of previews. There may
have been some advertisement but I don’t remember
any. This was a super bargain for 15 cents. You could
even stay and watch the re-runs as many times as you
wanted. We did many times!
Movies of that era were primarily westerns. I can
remember watching numerous horror films too. I came
a long way in a short time…from closing my eyes and
holding fingers in my ears to becoming a big horror
film lover. Two movies you may have never heard of
stand out in my mind…”The Creature from the Black
Lagoon” and “The Hitchhicker.”
Nowadays, when we see the re-runs of a lot of the old
movies from that era, even the serious ones seem
almost like a comedy. Still, at the time it was great
entertainment for all of us who spent “Saturday
Afternoon at the Movies”.
3.21.2011
REFLECTIONS- "Growing up in the 50's" Chapter 15- A Second Language
Nostalgia Tidbit : In Central Florida in the 50’s, we never heard anything about how important it was to learn a second language. Today, we all know how valuable it is in Florida
Chapter 15
A Second Language
(ig-pay atin-lay)
To feel the need to learn a second language was not
even on my radar until some friends shared some
insight in to a secretive way of verbally
communicating with each other so our parents and
strangers would have no idea what we were saying. It
was a language that even the name of it would make us
laugh. “Pig Latin” was the new found method of
communication. Just in case you don’t know how Pig
Latin works, here you go.
The usual rules for changing English into Pig Latin are:
1. If a word begins with consonant sounds, move all the first consonant sounds to the end of the word and add “ay”. As follows:
bat > at-bay
door > oor-day
John > ohn-jay
2. For words that begin with vowel sounds (including silent consonants) you add the syllable “ay” to the end word. as follows:
I > I-ay
equal > equal-ay
honest> honest-ay (because the h is silent).
Anyway, you get the idea. We had our own second
language and probably felt it had been invented within
our own little group of friends. It was most fun to use
around the adults because we felt there was no way
they could ever know what we were saying.
One day, a good buddy and I were at the corner store
and we went into our “second language” mode just to
test it out. “red-Fay is-ay uper-say tupid-say
which translates in to a not very nice “Fred is super
stupid.”
Fred looked at us with a sign of shock on his face. We
laughed because we knew we had done it on our first
try…puzzled an adult with our second language.
After a moment, Fred replied. “ ou-yay are-ya ot-
nay ooling-fay e-may which means (You are not
fooling me.)
We had to think about what he said for a moment to
decipher what he had actually said.
At this point we had spent so much time learning to
speak Pig Latin that we had not perfected listening and
understanding…BUT…we got it! He was on to us!
Apparently this new second language of ours was more
widespread that we had known. After that lesson, we
tried to stay away from saying anything negative but
did enjoy being able to speak a language that most
others, especially adults, did not understand.
Even to this day “Pig Latin” works very well if you are
in a foreign country and need to stay away from
English. You will confuse the heck out of any rude
foreigners who know how to speak English. Try it!
Also, if you are ever asked on a job application if you
speak a second language”? You can check “yes”! Ig-
pay atin-lay.
I double dog dare you! You won’t get the job, but what
an interesting reaction you will receive!
UST-JAY OKING-JAY !
Did you get it?
Just a funny side note: While writing this story my PC “spell check” went crazy…..maybe one day even our computers will recognize Pig Latin!
3.11.2011
REFLECTIONS "Growing up in the 50's" CHAPTER 14- That's Cool
Nostalgia Tidbit : In the 50s there was no air conditioning in the home or car, at least none that we knew about, so you cooled off as creatively as you could.
Chapter 14
That’s Cool
On a hot summer day in Central Florida in the 1950’s I
can remember how creative we tried to be in finding
ways to cool off. With no air conditioning in the home
or in the car, it was a challenge. You couldn’t even go
to the Mall to cool down because they didn’t exist. I
don’t remember any stores even having A/C either.
Perhaps they had some big circulating fans that stirred
the hot air.
Still, hot is hot!
Luckily, we had a lake about a mile away, so we often
walked or rode our bikes over to take a dip.
Back then, you actually felt comfortable swimming in
a fresh water lake with never a thought of gators,
snakes, amoebas and slime. I’m sure they were present
but it never crossed our minds.
.
We were too busy “cooling off”. Some creative ways
to cool off were to ride in the car “fast” with windows
down and hanging out up to the waist. That had a little
numbing effect as well. Standing in front of the
refrigerator with the door open worked nicely but we
could only get away with that for very short periods of
time. Sometimes, I would even think if I rode my bike
fast enough or ran fast enough, I could create a cool
breeze. Of course, that back fired on me.
Finally, one summer day, this wonderful appliance
became a part of our household. It was an electric fan.
While it wasn’t a monster of a fan, it was nevertheless
“a fan”! It was actually pretty small with a
circumference of about twelve inches. Still, it stirred
up the air in the living room. Circulating hot air is still
better than stale hot air.
I can still see us on a hot night with Dad lying on the
couch, Mom sitting in the chair and the three of us on
the floor as close to the fan’s breeze as possible
soaking up every moment of semi-coolness. I’m sure
we were often blocking the air flow to Mom and Dad
but I really don’t remember them
complaining….maybe they did. Selective memory is
good at times.
It was still many years before we were able to
experience the wonder of air conditioning. I do know
that even while in high school in the early 60’s, my
school was not air conditioned. As I recall, I think we
had that fan for many years.
As we fast forward to nowadays, I must leave my
air conditioned house to get in my air conditioned car
to go to the air conditioned grocery store and then off
to the air conditioned mall.
Wow, it sure is hot outside!
3.02.2011
REFLECTIONS "Growing up in the 50's-Chapter 13- Touch of the Toe
Nostalgia Tidbit: Since I was 9 years old, I had always wanted to play little league football, but each year, prior to the pre-season draft I could never get my weight up to the minimum weight requirement which was 85 lbs. The weight range was from 85-115lbs.
Chapter 13
Touch of the Toe
Finally in 1959 at 12 years old my weight came within
range to qualify to play little league football. This was
the last year I would be eligible to play. I barely hit the
85 lb mark but felt I was close enough. I was a little
shrimp, wasn’t I?
Anyway, the day finally came when all would try to
qualify. We had two teams in Auburndale. One was
sponsored by Publix Supermarkets and the other was
sponsored by a local business called Killebrews.
Publix wore green and white and Killebrew’s wore red
and white.
We had to do some basic workout events such as speed
running and catching the ball on the run.
All the coaches were observing with the demeanor of
what I thought to be professional coaches. As you
might suspect with me being so small, I was fast! I did
catch their attention and did get drafted by the
Killebrew Killers! A couple of former Auburndale
High School players would be our coaches. They were
great high school players only the year before. This
would be a treat to learn from a couple of guys I really
looked up to.
Over the next couple of weeks, practice went well. I
was primarily at a running back position on offense
and defensive back on the defensive side of the ball.
Overall, I felt pretty good about the way things were
developing.
Finally, came the night of our first game. I was filled
with butterflies and excitement …until…in the locker
room, one of the officials told us to step up to the
weigh in “one by one”.
My heart was in my throat as I stepped onto the
scales. 79 pounds registered! How could I only
weigh 79 pounds? After all, I was 12 years old!
Anyway, I spent the whole night sitting on the
sidelines ineligible to play that night. How
disappointing.
The following week I practiced harder than ever
determined to impress the coaches to the point of
making them forget about the weight issue.
After all, I could have better understood if I was in
excess of the maximum weight…I might hurt
someone…but as small as I was, they didn’t have to
worry about me really hurting anyone. Of course, I was
not worried about getting hurt. After all, I had two
older brothers who had broken me in when it came
to toughness.
During that week of practice, I was impressive. I ran
through defender after defender dodging and darting
and utilizing all that quickness and speed I was blessed
with. Speed was as critical in those days as now,
perhaps even more so, because there were a lot of
single and double reverses run in the backfield and
even on most kickoff returns. I was quick! As small as
I was I had better be quick or get smashed!
Game day was here again. From here on out, the
coaches had to conduct the weigh ins and record such.
When I stepped on the scales this time it was amazing
that in one week I had gained enough to qualify!
I never did know whose toe was pressing on that
scale but it was pressing hard enough to add about 5
pounds to my weight. All teammates and coaches were
gathered so closely I couldn’t tell.
All I know is there was a cheer once I stepped off the
scale. It appeared that “Rules are made to be
Broken”…not a very good testimony to my grand kids
one day but at the time it seemed like justice.
That night, we won the game by a big margin. I was
tackling people on all points of the field. It was so
invigorating to be a part of the team.
By the way, on the first ball handed off to me in the
backfield, I ran untouched for a 60 yard Touchdown.
It was the highlight of my football career. I never
played another season after that. I was always so small
throughout high school; I had to stick with basketball,
baseball and track.
I never had to weigh- in the remainder of that season.
Were rules made to be broken?
As perfect as memory tries to make the 50s era, I guess
we weren’t so perfect after all! I still wonder whose toe
rescued me and gave me the chance for that great
memory of being able to play the game. Whoever you
were…if by some chance you read this story, please let
me know. My football career was saved by
“The Touch of the Toe”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)