Growing Up Retro✓

There's a kitchen somewhere in 1981 where my mother is still young, the radio is playing, and dinner is almost ready. I'd give up every Christmas present I ever received just to sit at that table again and hear her ask me how my day was.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Do you remember when you could walk into a drugstore with a roll of film and drop it into a little envelope? I miss those days.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Every year that passes, I realize the '70s and '80s gave us something money can't buy today. Local stores that knew your name, neighbors who borrowed tools, and friendships that didn't need constant contact to last. We had a real sense of belonging.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Only in the '80s could Pee-wee Herman show up on David Letterman dressed as a pirate and turn late-night television into absolute chaos. They just don't make TV personalities like this anymore.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Did you know Nintendo used to have a hotline you could call when you got stuck on a video game?

Things that used to be normal: Buying a concert ticket without a service fee bigger than dinner. Getting a free glass of water without ordering bottled water. Calling a hotel and talking directly to the front desk. Buying a toy that didn't need eight AA batteries. Somewhere along the way, convenience started charging admission.

Did your parents expect you to stop whatever you were doing and greet relatives when they came to visit, or were you allowed to stay in your room?

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Growing up in the '70s and '80s, did you have to ask, "May I be excused?" before leaving the dinner table? In our house, you didn't just finish eating and walk away. You waited until Mom or Dad said you could leave. Was this a rule in your house too?

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Who remembers when you could take a burned-out light bulb back to the hardware store and they would test it right there? Some stores even had those big display boards where you screwed in the bulb to see if it still worked.

The older I get, the more I miss the things I never thought twice about. Mom leaving a plate in the oven for Dad, the TV Guide beside the recliner, a kitchen calendar full of birthdays, and Sunday dinner at Grandma's. We didn't have much, but somehow we had everything.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: I'd give anything to walk into my childhood house and see everyone's shoes by the front door again. Such a little thing, but it meant everybody was home. I never imagined a day would come when I'd miss that sight so much.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Son: Dad, why does this song make you smile like that? Dad: Because they just don't make music that feels this good anymore.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: I wish I could have one more Saturday morning in 1979. Dad working on something in the garage, Mom running errands, my bike lying in the driveway. Nothing special happening. Just another day in a life I had no idea I'd spend the rest of mine missing.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Son: Dad, where are we going? Dad: Nowhere in particular, son. Roll down your window, forget about everything for a while, and let this one play.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: The 1970s were a time when kids could walk into a hardware store, buy a handful of nails, build a homemade go-kart, and race it downhill. No brakes. No helmets. No adult supervision.

RT @GrowingUpRetro: Only kids raised in the '70s remember being handed a few dollars, a handwritten note and sent into the liquor store to buy Dad a six-pack. Nobody questioned it. Nobody called the cops. The cashier knew your family.