We never had that in my day; you know the good old days when everything was perfect, everyone was nice and kind to each other, there was no such thing as poverty and the summers lasted all year round. Bobby was on the beat and crime hadn’t been invented yet; smoking and drinking were healthy for you then, and all of the kids, young and old, were so well behaved, seen, but never heard.
Germs and viruses were unheard of and the threat of granny’s Castor Oil was the magical cure for all manner of ailments. There was a place for everything and everything was in its place. Dad was the head of the family, and everyone else knew where they sat, and God forbid anyone dared to sit in mam and dads chair.
Language was simple and uncluttered, much like the people who went about their daily lives, happy and content in the fact they never had it so good. Make do and mend worked just as well on relationships as the hand me downs, and appreciation was expected along with the please and thank yous.
Routines, family rituals and roles created the patterns to everyday life. Mam and dad doing their best for everyone, because that’s what parents did back then. Children protected from the harsher realities of life, to be saved up for another day in a far distant future, childhood memories made on a shoestring; cheap and cheerful made for happy days, good old days, a time when life appeared simple and uncluttered. Those warm wonderful days when everything was right with the world, and the summers lasted forever.
Phillip Hawkins