Sure, millions of dollars would be nice… maybe we could have a roof that doesn’t leak and that private jet I’ve always wanted…. but paying someone else to stain the deck so I wouldn’t blow out my knee? Changing doctors when I knew mine was an idiot so I wouldn’t be misdiagnosed and need surgery ? Not letting our cat outside on the day he was run over by a car? Or having the chance to spend more time with my father and ask him all the questions I should have before he died? I’ll take that over a giant bank account any day.
That’s an easy one for me. The best…. or should I say most fun… car I’ve ever owned.
.
.
(Not my picture, but I don’t feel like digging through 124 albums to find one … so this is the same year, model and color)
It was 1982, I was single but dating a car guy. He had a cousin who owned a 1967 Mustang that had seen better days and been living in a garage collecting cobwebs. I saw it, fell in love with it, and my guy bought it for me.
A good bit of restoration was needed, the floor boards were pure Bondo… but after six months of weekend work she was road ready and throaty. We had a blast in that car, but a year or so later I met my husband and married him in six days. Feeling guilty for a lot of reasons, I gave the ex the car.
It was the right thing to do, but I still miss her.
How about you. What car do you wish you still had?
So many items popped into my head when I read this… but if I’m going to have to choose one:
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The milk box.
(No, I didn’t grow up in Palmyra, PA … but I couldn’t find an image of the dairy that provided our back porch with a milk delivery box so this will have to do.)
Young people today are amazed when you tell them a milkman actually came to your house twice a week and left the milk, cream, and butter you ordered in a zinc lined metal box. And while I admit I vaguely remember ours as the service ended when I was quite young… never running out of milk had to be the ultimate convenience. Some dairies left ice cream as well.
Now that’s a delivery I can totally get behind.
Your turn.
What item did you grow up with that no one sees anymore?
This is a hard one for me as I have quite a few. And while I don’t mindlessly watch tv like my spouse, I do have a few movies that will make me stop what I’m doing and watch.
All time favorite film? Casablanca. But for something a tad more recent?
1.
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For a history buff like me, you can’t beat this one. An important story of the 54th Massachusetts, the first black regiment to fight in the civil War. It will put a lump in your throat and pride in your heart. Hell, I weep just hearing the soundtrack.
2.
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I cry unashamedly every single time I see this one. And with music from Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen? You can’t go wrong.
3.
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You can have Stephen King’s horror movies for fluff, but the fact he can write books like these and chooses not to is sad. Pass the tissues, I’ll need them with both of these films as well.
4.
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The extremely underrated and heartwarming true story of P.L.Travers, author of Mary Poppins, and Walt Disney’s battle to bring it to the screen. I laughed, I cried and will never doubt Emma Thompson’s genius again.
5.
I could go on all day, but I’ll just drop one more favorite.
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I’m not a huge Russell Crowe fan but this sweet and funny story about love and family stole my heart. Set in Provence, the scenery is stunning, the acting sublime. Grab a glass of wine and enjoy.
As I’m sitting here after dinner craving dessert, I’m going with the Good Humor truck.
No sound was more iconic to the summers of my childhood. We kept a bowl of change on the kitchen counter in anticipation of those glorious chimes. Doors would slam all over the neighborhood as every kid within hearing distance would run to the corner before it drove away.
Advice. Everyone seems to have it, but no one seems to want it.
My late father always used to tell me not to take any wooden nickels, which seems ridiculous these days… but I suppose you could substitute ‘cryptocurrency’ for ‘nickel’ and call it good.
While I make a habit of never offering unsolicited advice, being happily married for 38 years people often ask for our secret and want advice on staying together.
Love, respect, and understanding. All important, but I usually default back to compromise and choosing carefully. Chemical attraction and lust fade, trust me on this. If you don’t have anything deeper to hold you together you won’t be searching for the traditional 40th anniversary gift. ( Ruby! Let’s hear it for hanging in there.)
I constantly hear people say you have to have things in common with your spouse to cement a relationship, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth for us… we’re very different people. But we find common ground in the type of life we want to lead and where we want to live it. That trumps his preference for television over my love of reading any day, even if it means a John Wayne marathon now and then.
My husband and I met and were married 6 days later. Guess I chose correctly. ❣️
River's world..... 