Monday, November 24, 2014

Memory Lane

Today I went with my wife to visit her mother in the nursing home. Her mother is 102 and her mind isn't quite the steel trap it was just a mere couple of years ago. She smiled at me and asked me if I was there to take her to supper.  She didn't know me.  She smiled at my wife, her youngest daughter, and asked her if she was there to help her go to the bathroom.  It was at that moment I told my wife I'd be in the TV/Card lounge until she was ready to leave.  It bothered me that my mother-in-law had no memory of me but it really hit hard for my wife for her mother not to recognize her own child.  But, it has been getting worse each time we go in. The Alzheimer is slowly eating away at her memories. If you tell her who you are, she claims to remember and I truly do believe she does. When my wife tells her who she is, my mother-in-law seems truly upset to not remember.

Anyway, I went into the TV lounge where five patients were playing cards.  Over time I've got to know them and they know me.  We all said 'hi' and I sat in a chair and started to watch the TV which was broadcasting an old "The Brady Bunch" show.  I watched as Alice traded zingers with Sam, her butcher boyfriend.

I broke out laughing. Without realizing it, I'd interrupted the card game and they wanted to know what was so funny.

I pointed to the television and said, "Look at the ad's on the back wall of the butcher shop." Just over Sam's shoulder was a sign that read: Chopped Sirloin 92¢ lb. "I sure would like to be able to get that today!"

Anna was quick with a reply. "Bob, honey. I remember buying hamburger for something like 29¢ a pound when I was feeding my kids."

Unfortunately, that was a truth.  I remembered, at the ripe age of almost 16, biking uptown (a very small community) to the local grocery store and getting hamburger for that low price.  Anna is like about 20 years my senior, probably somewhere close to 90 years in age.

I continued to watch the show and Mike Brady (father) had a pay phone installed for the Brady children to use, needing to pay a dime for each call.  When I was single and shared a large 3-story house with 3 other guys, the phone bill got to be an issue.  It was in my name and everyone used it.  When I attempted to collect the money to pay the bill, I was met with 'catch me next payday' which just never seemed to come.  I took the phone out. Well, actually I took out the three extensions (living room, downstairs kitchen and upstairs kitchen) and left only one phone in my bedroom.  That, in itself lowered my phone bill drastically since each extension was extra. Bedrooms were kept locked so nobody but me, or who I allowed, could use my phone.  One of the other guys quickly had a pay phone installed at the bottom of the stairs.  Each call was 25¢ and of course, the longer one talked, the more money they had to pay.  The only catch to having a pay phone in the house was somebody had to be there when the phone company came to collect the money. There was a minimum amount due each month or we had to make up the difference.  We never had to make up the difference.  Back then it seemed that if you called more than 2 blocks away from the phone's location, it was long distance.

My granddaughter found a picture of gasoline on Facebook where the prices were under $1.00, including premium.  On the picture was something to the effect of "Let's bring these prices back."  Wouldn't that be nice?  Oh, wait. While we're bringing gasoline down to 79¢ a gallon, why not bring it down to the price I remember buying it for my first car — a mere 25¢ per gallon. That's right!  $5 filled the tank and you got not only change back, but also Golden, TV, or Green Stamps and/or a voucher for a collectible piece of china or crystal.  Yes, even at those prices, I was able to get a 12 place setting of smoked crystal consisting of water glasses, champagne glasses, wine glasses, tumblers and shot glasses.  Should I mention the station attendants also cleaned the windows, pumped the gas, checked the oil and sometimes even the washer fluid!!  All that for free!  In the winter, if you were a regular, you could get a free analysis of your antifreeze!

I remember postage stamps were 3¢ and post cards with the postage already on them were only 1¢! Imagine, a postcard for only one penny!  One could buy a roll - that's right - A ROLL of 100 stamps for a mere $3.00.

My mind started to think how much more money I'd have today if we could go back to those days where prices were 'reasonable.'  BUT, the gas station owners wouldn't make much money.  Butchers and grocery store employees would be on Welfare to make ends meet.  The rules are simple, I couldn't make the money I make today.  I'd have to face the reality of a paycheck of less than $100 a week, probably under $80.

The good ol' days are only good if you can have the best of both worlds.  The prices of back then with the income of today. The simplicity of back then with the conveniences of today. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Yeah, memory lane is a great place to stroll, but, unfortunately, you can only stroll there.  You can't live there, but only visit for short lengths of time.

Until next I ramble on...

14 comments:

  1. I think what bothers me most is tolls. $7.50 to cross the Throgs Neck Bridge? $12 for the George Washington? Prices keep soaring and it scares me how people are going to afford to be able to do anything.

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  2. Everyone wants the pricing of 1950 but with 2014 salaries. You can't get 2014 salaries with 1950 prices. It don't work that way. I agree, tolls keep going up but it seems the repair costs are escalating. Actually everything is escalating in price. It is the beast of modernization. Workers get a raise which means to cover that, business must increase the price. A $9 billion quarterly profit should indicate that the price is too high for gas but to cross that bridge to work, you pay the price of the gas, or you get a job closer to home where you can walk to work. Yeah, like that is going to happen. The trickle down theory at its best.

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  3. Memories are our greatest treasure. As I get older, I value them more and more, especially as my children grow and leave the nest. I'm so sorry to hear about your MIL and how she has lost many of hers. Praying for your wife's heart as the months pass. Great reflections. And whether something is $.05 or $5k, there never does seem enough to make ends meet. Good thing we have those memories to make life worth the struggles.

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    1. Never enough money but always just what is needed to scrape through. I like the way memories have a way of softening the moment.

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  4. Bob, I am so sorry about your mother in law. I haven't experienced having a loved one going through this but do you think, that in some ways she is living what we miss, the good old days?

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    1. At times, I also wonder if she is enjoying the new world she is creating with the memories she has. She seems content.

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  5. I remember signs on the highway near my house, advertising gasoline at 40 cents a gallon in the 70s. And when I first went out on my own, I think it was around 49 cents a litre, back in 1982.

    Now, if only salaries went up as quickly as prices and corporate profits. I know, dream on ...

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    1. To dream the impossible dream. Wouldn't it be nice? Right now you have two choices - writing the #1 world-wide best seller or winning the lottery. Unfortunately, my luck is getting struck by lightning.

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  6. I remember my dad gripping when he bought mom a mini van back when I was at home. He said, I paid more for this van than I did for our house and the land it sits on!----LOL

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    1. So true. I remember our first house we bought. Less than 10 years later, the car, much smaller in space, cost more than house did. We sold the house for a measly profit and 18 months later, the house was worth 3X what I'd bought it. Timing is everything and I'm out of sync!!

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  7. I remember watching for a good gas price when I was a kid. 21¢ a gallon. Sometimes even 19¢. (And we only had one family car, too. And one television in the house--black and white.)

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    1. (tongue in cheek) We were rich, my mom worked so we had two cars - a clunker my dad drove to work and the family car my mom drove to work. My schoolmates thought I was a rich kid because we had two cars. My grandmother came to live with us and that gave us TWO televisions. Yeah, still black and white (11" screen!) and only 3 stations to watch. Whoo-hoo!

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  8. I remember back in the day, an old gal-pal of mine was really upset at her beau, because he hadn't been in touch all day, and had something serious going on - of which she was waiting to hear news. She told me how she nailed him with this doozy: "There are over 10,000 pay phones in this city. If you can't stop to call me at least once to let me know what's going on then we're through." I laugh now because that would NEVER work now. LOL!!!! Great post. And sorry about your mother in law, but 102 is nothing to sneeze at. The fact she was cognizant up to 100 is AMAZING.

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  9. Actually, Lisa, she only went into the home this past April... and she wasn't too thrilled about it happening. She was still very vibrant and wanted to go to HER home to live. She'd lived with us for 3 yrs due to her falling and we don't think she was always taking her medicine properly. Still, at 101, she was moving on her own. Her problem was, she was falling down and couldn't get back up and fighting with us when we attempted to help. Her memory was slipping but not gone. She wanted to drive her car - uh, she's never had a driver's license. She took my keys away from me so I couldn't driver HER car. She decided to cook a meal at 3am because she couldn't sleep and was hungry since we hadn't fed her all day. She figured when she went to sleep, when she got up, it was a new day. She went to bed at 9:30pm, got up at 10:15pm and it was a new day. Fortunately the stove was electric but the eggs (with broken shells) were getting a little crispy. We didn't want to put her in a home but the other siblings figured we'd done what we could and it was now time for the nurses and doctors to take over. OH, there might be 10,000 pay phones but how many of them worked?

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