Aging Musicians Still With Us In 2016

I saw this on Facebook today...  My thoughts turned to the several musicians who have passed in this new year of 2016.  Am happy to see how many of those we grew up with are still around.

Back in the Day ~ Listening to the Radio

My parents had a radio very much like this one when I was a child.  I remember it well.  It had been placed in a corner of the living room next to the sofa where my Dad sat.  His favorite spot.  He would sit there reading his newspaper and listening to the radio.

On the other side of the radio, next to the radiators that heated our home, was an old hassock.  When there was a program that I wanted to listen to in the evening, you would find me hunched over the hassock as close as I could get to that radio so I wouldn't miss anything being said or played.

I was not allowed to touch the knobs of this radio...apparently I was considered too young to master all the intricacies of locating stations, etc.  The radio had several bands, including a shortwave band; and since it was wartime (1940's), I remember my Dad listening for news of the conflict from wherever he could find information.  I still remember one time hearing the fanatical and screeching voice of Adolf Hitler, though I couldn't understand a word he said.

My Dad listened to boxing during this time.  I remember the fights with Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott and Billy Conn, because I was right there, hunched over the hassock listening.

On Saturday afternoons, my Dad would turn on the Metropolitan Opera program.  I wasn't too interested in that music, mainly because I couldn't understand what was being sung, but I remember it in the background of whatever I was doing in the house that day.

Of course, there were lots of other programs that we listened to...  I recall Amos and Andy, George Burns and Gracie Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, Ellery Queen, The FBI in Peace and War, Baby Snooks, Gangbusters, Dr. Christian and soooo many others.  You can look here for a long listing of some of those 1940's programs.

The old radio finally gave out and my brother, who had begun working at Miller and Rhoads or Thalhimers (don't remember which) gave my parents a new console radio/record player for Christmas in the late 1940's.  He was so proud of himself that Christmas. I don't think we had a record player before that time, though I vaguely remember a child's record player in the house at one time; but I think that was later in my early teens.

It's amazing how a photograph can bring back so many memories.

 

Talking about Spiders!

There was some discussion on Plurk this evening about Spiders! Spiders are not my favorite among God's creatures; in fact, the larger ones always give me a start. Anyway, the discussion reminded me of the spider that once stalked me!

I was staying with cousins in Germany some years ago, when I encountered this nightmare. It was night and I was reading before going to sleep. I was propped up in my bed with my book. Across the room was a tall wardrobe with a large mirror on its door.

I was musing about what I had just read and so I happened to glance up from my book. There on the wall across the room was a humongous spider! Its body was the size of a quarter and with its long legs, this frightful vision looked as large as the palm of my hand! Yech!

Of course, not one to leave such a spider running loose in the bedroom, I immediately got up and looked for something with which to attack it. I think I picked up one of my shoes and almost on tiptoe, I swatted it on the wall! And missed! I finally hit it and it fell. I couldn't move the furniture to make certain I had killed it, but I guessed I had at least wounded it critically. So back to bed I went and continued reading.

A short while later, I happened to glance up again and much to my dismay, there crawling across the wall was the same humongous spider! Yuck! I hadn't killed it after all! This time I got up and really gave it a whack! Again, it fell behind the furniture; and again, I figured I had killed it for sure. So, back to my book I went.

A few minutes later, I glanced up for the third time; and this time I nearly froze with horror! For there in the reflection of the mirror on the wardrobe door, I saw this horrible spider directly behind me on the wall next to the bed! I jumped out of that bed like a bat out of hell! Thank God for that mirror! It still gives me the shivers to think that I could have had such a huge spider taking a walk across my face during the night...

This time, I slammed that spider everything I had and it's remains on the wall and on my shoe proved to me that I had finally disposed of it! Whew!

I had no trouble sleeping that night...

The next morning I told my cousin about my battle with the spider. My cousin said. "Oh we see a lot of them this time of year. They won't hurt you." Right!

All Hallow's Eve

The rain stopped earlier this afternoon, just in time for the children in this subdivision to enjoy an evening of trick-or-treating. I'm glad it cleared up for their sakes. If they felt like I did as a child, this night was a special one where they could dress up in costume and fill their sacks with candy and other goodies...

Yes, I know all the arguments against Halloween trick-or-treating so I'm not going to address those issues. All I want to think about tonight is the fun of knowing that a child can dress up and pretend to be someone totally different than they are in real life. That a child can get a free piece of candy or other treat for no other reason than custom. That for once, the child (with a parent) can knock on a door and expect to get something for nothing.

Actually, the homeowner who answers the door gets quite a treat themselves. I find it interesting to see what types of costumes the children wear. Some are very elaborate. Others are simply thrown together from odds and ends that a parent has around the house. Sometimes, the parents get dressed up too.

When I was a child, we sometimes played tricks. But what tricks!!! Can you imagine the unsophistication of a child who has a wallet or purse attached to a string, who puts the purse on a porch, rings the doorbell and hastily runs to the side of the house to wait for the occupant to open the door. We expected the person who opened the door to be totally surprised that there should be a purse on his doorstep. We wanted him to reach down to pick it up and we would pull the string and snatch the purse from his outstretched hand!!! Did it ever work that way? Nooooo...

Sometimes, bad boys in the neighborhood would soap up a car or move things off a porch... things like that. I don't remember anything really destructive that was done. Sometimes, the local playground which was not far from my home, had Halloween activities too. I spent a lot of time at that playground when I was growing up. There was a woman there who taught crafts and games to us and made sure that we had plenty to do.

I was shocked several years ago when people began finding razor blades and other things in apples and candy bars. Who would want to hurt children like that. Events like that changed trick-or-treating forever. One couldn't just enjoy the evening. Now one had to instruct their children NOT to accept fruit or any unwrapped candy. When my grandchildren brought home their treats, everything was emptied on the table and anything suspicious was discarded immediately. Such a shame that children had to be made aware that some folks do mean things.

Anyway, I was happy to see the few who ventured down my street tonight. They were greeted with a smile from me and a compliment on their costumes and a wish that they have lots of fun tonight. Too soon, these children will grow up to discover a world that is not the carefree world of childhood.

A Date to Remember...

Forty-two years ago today, one of my children died. It wasn't unexpected. Bobby had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in the Fall of 1964 at the age of three. He had actually survived longer than the average child with this disease. In those days, leukemia was a death sentence.

We had five sons and Bobby was the middle child. He endured a lot; as did we all. He was a great kid! Full of life... never let the disease get him down... until he had nothing left to give.

My family survived this loss. As those who have experienced the loss of a child know, it isn't easy. Many marriages break up after such a traumatic experience. People grieve in different ways...

We had four other sons to cherish and care for; and to try to reassure that they would not live in fear that a similar thing might happen to them. Actually, not long afterwards, one of my sons developed symptoms that frightened him. I had to take him to our doctor who kindly spoke with him and told him directly, that he had no cancer. I'm sure that throughout their childhood, this fear lurked.

Forty-two years is a lifetime for some people. A lot has happened to our family since that morning of July 15, 1967; but people often grow stronger when faced with adversity. And God took care of us...

That morning in the hospital, a doctor came into the room with a gift for me. He realized that my child would probably not live much longer. He also knew that it was my birthday...