As I think back on my childhood, I think about the imagination that were part of each day.
We did not have a toy box. We had two large cardboard boxes that once held toilet paper delivered to a neighborhood supermarket.
As kids, we did not look at these boxes with embarrassment or shame. They were magical. They held adventures.
The times we worked our way to the bottom of these huge boxes we found toys we hadn’t played with in a while almost seemed like new toys.
A piece of rope became a fishing line. One of us would sit on the top bunk and the other would dig into the big boxes and tie something onto the end of a rope and yank the rope. The person on the top bunk would see what they had “reeled” in.
An end table in the living room became “an office”.
A china tea set became part of an important dinner with a lot of “water” tea, a slice of bread became the the finest pastry.
A small chalkboard became a classroom.
When a smaller cardboard box was brought home it took on a new life.
We would draw wheels on the side and it became a car. We would even draw a steering wheel on one of the flaps. Seated in the box and off we would go. We could drive anywhere. The freedom of traveling in the neighborhood or to places far away. Sometimes the cardboard box became a plane and flew us to foreign countries.
As we sat with Mom on the roof of our apartment building at “tar beach”, we would listen to the music from a transistor radio. In our minds, we were at the beach enjoying the sun. Mom watching us and enjoying the sun and drinking a cold Pepsi from a bottle.
As we grew up, a record player was added to the mix. We could be the stars of Broadway shows from albums we collected or be Gladys Knight on the :Midnight Train to Georgia. My addiction to musicals started in the 4th grade when we went to the Rivoli Theatre in “the city” to see “The Sound of Music”. I so wanted to be “Sixteen Going On Seventeen.”. I sang the songs over and over again.
The magic and imagination has never really gone away. For my 16th birthday, my parents gave me tickets to my first Broadway Show. I went to see “Fiddler On The Roof’. It was mesmerizing. I wanted to be on that stage. Unfortunately, my singing skills were lacking except in the shower or into my hairbrush microphone.
Back to the magic.
When I learned to ride a bike, I was suddenly part of the “Tour de France” on the Bronx streets.
When we put baseball cards on the spokes of our bikes with clothespins holding them in place, we were riding motorcycles through the neighborhood.
When Jenn was young, she had not mastered the skill of jumping into a turning jump rope. And who wants to be the “steady ender”all the time (although I did not mind turning the rope for Double Dutch). We resolved the issue with a trip to a local hardware store. We purchased a couple of yards of clothesline. I tied one end to a tree and turned the other. We worked at it and before she knew it, Jenn got the hang of it. In fact, my Mom stopped by and showed Jenn her jumping skills. It got even funnier when Uncle George stopped by in his police car and joined in the jump rope event. I didn’t dare even try to explain to Jenn the intricacies of “Double Dutch” which I had learned when I was young.
Anyway imagination, a rope or a spaldeen or a box or chalk could all lead to hours of fun, games and adventures.
I may be wrong but I don’t see this as much any more. We have all of these electronics that entertain us all.
Maybe it is because I am older but there still seems to be nothing better than a cardboard box, some clothesline, a small ball or some chalk to get the imaginative juices flowing.
Time to put down the IPAD and Iphone. Put away the play station or Xbox. Go outside and dream, create and see what happens.
Maybe that is one of the reasons I love to write, I can create, make believe and the possibilities are endless.
For example, the only note I wrote about this blog entry earlier in the week was “ a cardboard box” and look at where it took me…..
See you next week.
PS I wrote a few weeks ago about courage. I included information about LJ. LJ, a 6 year old with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinisic Pontine Glioma). LJ lost his battle with this dreadful disease on Friday. He is no longer in pain or suffering from treatments. He is whole and healthy and happy. He is with God. During this holiest of weeks, I ask you pray for LJ and his family and friends. They have endured a journey none of us would want to experience but their faith has gotten them through the last 4 years and will get them through they days to come. May God bless them all and keep them in his loving arms.
