Category: Childhood Memories

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a falsehood repeated from my youth. It originally came from my elementary school days during the cold war.  “If there’s an atomic bomb threat, push all the desks together and crawl under yours.  That will protect you if the windows explode.  The glass won’t …

When I was a kid, my dad took my mom, my sisters, and me on Sunday drives. Most trips involved a visit to see one of Dad’s sisters, but some were just outings to get us out of the house. Those drives often took us out into the country. We’d drive through farmland and Dad …

I was about ten the first time I played mumbley-peg . I had one opponent, my cousin Gene.  He was four years older than me, so we never played when I turned twelve because he had his driver’s license by then and he moved on to bigger and better things.  He still included me, but …

Early in life most of my opportunities to learn about the Detroit Lions came via the radio.  My first recollections occurred in the barber shop where my mom or dad took me to get my hair cut.  It was a few blocks from our house and owned by a pair of brothers, Henry and Pete.  …

Mr. Levens was my elementary school principal throughout my six years at Lincoln.  I have no idea who the principal of Clara Barton Junior High was.  We never met and that worked well for me.  I had two principals during my four years at George A. Dondero High School, but again, we never met.  I …

For several years I thought this picture was taken at Whittier Elementary. Upon further examination, I realize it may not have been taken there. Some of the kids didn’t attend Whittier. They did attend Lincoln, but I’m not convinced the photo was taken there. Regardless of the location, I think it’s an end of the …

Mom invited my Lincoln Elementary School teachers to lunch at our house.  Miss Haskell (1st), Mrs. Davies (2nd), Mrs. Steward (3rd), Mrs. Henderson (4th), Mr. Reese (5th), and Mr. Cromar (6th) took their appropriate turn.  We had an hour for lunch, and we lived just a couple of blocks from school, so accepting an invitation …

I was among the first students to attend Abraham Lincoln Elementary School when it opened in 1953.  It was built to help address the tremendous growth that post war Royal Oak experienced.  I attended Whittier Elementary the year before where I was an enthusiastic Kindergarten student.  All the kids in the neighborhood made the eight-tenths …

Thursday night the fire alarm in our condo went off about ten minutes after we went to bed and four seconds before I would have been fast asleep.  I was out of it just enough to wonder where the alarm was coming from.  My first thought was my cell phone, but the more conscious I …

I was never a fan of doing chores.  I did them but didn’t like it.  Luckily, I could handle everything that came my way and knew what the consequences were for failing to follow through.  The consequences were worse than the chores. The lesser of two evils. My main job was keeping my room clean.  …