Once every seven days, we stopped what we were doing to intently listen to a man with the perfect radio voice countdown the Top 40 hits of the week. Would Madonna hold on to that top spot? Or would Michael Jackson be crowned king again? Thinking back on it now, I’m amazed we had the attention span to listen to the entire show. But, considering we didn’t have nearly the number of distractions that are present today, it does make sense.
I miss Casey Kasem.
I miss the ‘80s.
Paul Harvey would keep us entranced until he revealed “the rest of the story.” Dick Clark was the gentleman who helped us ring in every New Year. Ronald Reagan brought us out of the gas lines of the ‘70s and urged another superpower’s leader to “tear down this wall.” Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw gave us the Evening News.
I miss Paul, Dick, Ron, Dan, and Tom.
I miss the ‘80s
My very first movie at the theater was none other than Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was mesmerized the entire time by the amazing Dr. Jones played by Harrison Ford. Mr. Ford would also star in one of the next movies I saw in the theater—Return of the Jedi. My mother swears that the nonstop action and sounds of that movie helped push her into delivering my younger sister. I sat with glee with my cousins and uncle as we traveled through time with Marty McFly and the eccentric, but lovable, Dr. Emmett Brown. And yet again, with my cousins, I watched a group of crazy scientists battle the supernatural in Ghostbusters.
I miss Indy, Han, Marty, and Dr. Venkman.
I miss the ‘80s.
Every summer, early in August, I would make the pilgrimage to the mall with my grandmother for the back-to-school shopping experience. New shoes. New outfits. But the crème de la crème? The new trapper keeper. It just wouldn’t be the first day of school without seeing everyone with their brand-new trapper keepers—every pencil neatly in its pouch. The loose-leaf paper and notebooks smartly clipped into it. So what if most of them looked like a garbage heap within a week or two? It didn’t matter to us. What did matter was the pride we all had walking in on that first day with our highly-organized-ready-to-learn-super-cool-trapper keeper!
I miss my trapper keeper.
I miss the ‘80s
In the evenings after the news, we became part of the TV families. Whether it was the Keatons on Family Ties, or the Huxtables on the Cosby show, we always looked forward to the laughs, the tears, and the escape from reality that those TV families provided us for just a little while. If it wasn’t sitcoms, then we knew there was always a different sort of escape—music videos on MTV! (When MTV did nothing but play actual music videos.)
Those were the days! Sometimes, the choice in our TV viewing centered around education. The options were plentiful. But my favorites were the reruns of The Electric Company, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Marty Stouffer’s Wild America. I miss the Keatons, the Huxtables, MTV, Morgan Freeman (yes, he was on The Electric Company), Marlin Perkins and Mr. Stouffer.
I miss the ‘80s
In the fall on Sundays after church, we would return home where I would spend the afternoon supporting my favorite football team. After heating up a TV dinner and placing it onto the folding card table that was set up in front of the sofa, I would cheer on Joe, John, Art, Gary, Dexter, and of course the Hoggettes! “Hail to the Redskins “was a song I grew to love.
I miss the Redskins.
I miss the ‘80s.
When we drove somewhere and it was a nice day, we rolled down the car windows with our hand. If we wanted to change the channel on the TV, we stood up and walked over to turn the knob. If we wanted to have popcorn, we cooked it on the stove. If we needed to make a mix tape for our Walkman, we recorded songs off the radio. When we wanted to earn some money, we delivered newspapers or cut lawns.
I miss those simpler times of life.
I miss the ‘80s.
