02/03/2022
I grew up in North philly,,Howard & Cumberland Where everybody was like family. We had the best Cheese steaks and Pizza from 4 Sons,,,penny candy from suzannas and wakines,,cookies and shoestring candy from front st with the cat laying next to the candy,,Water ice n a pretzel for .25 cents. We never thought about being lower or middle class. With what we had, the family and friends, we were rich!!!! We grew up in the best place and I wouldn't trade it for anything. That was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during a time when everyone treated each other like family. We went outside first thing in the morning to play, we got dirty, and didn't go home until dinner. We ate whatever mom cooked; there were no custom orders, questions, or negotiations! We looked forward to the water ice truck, Mr. Softee, Pony rides, the mini carnival rides. We had to share! We played Kick Ball, wall ball, man hunt, jacks, freeze-tag, Jump Rope, Jail Break, Red Light-Green Light, Red Rover, Hide and Seek & Dodge Ball. We played in the fire hydrants every summer. There were no bottled waters...we drank from the faucet or the water hose/spigot. We roller skated and made our bikes sound like motorcycles with hug cartons on the back wheels, walked around with crushed cans on the bottom of our sneaks. We walked or rode our bikes in the street without a helmet. We played handball! If you wanted to get a hold of your friends, you called them from a landline, or went to their house and knocked on the door. We had no cable, just regular TV with only a few channels and you needed to actually get up to change the channel... "Play Dates" didn't exist!!!! We weren't afraid of anything. If you fell down you'd better suck it up 'cause you couldn't run in and out of the house for a scratch or any other reason or you would have to stay in. If someone had a fight, that's what it was....a fight that started and ended right there. The next day it was over. At night we watched the stars and when the street lights came on we were reminded to get our butts home or on in front of the door before our Mom or Dad had to holler for us to come in for the night. We watched our mouths around adults.
