My nieces and nephews go back to school this week and once of the things David and I enjoy sharing with Charlie is back to school memories from when we were in school and the way we remember it and the friends we had back then. I would like to invite you and your family to come take a trip back with us as its back-to-school time again.
It doesn’t matter what store you walk into and where you look, there are backpacks, school supplies, new shoes, lunchboxes, teachers getting their classrooms ready and parents trying to remember everything their children need before that first bell rings. But this year, we’re going to do something a little different here at Greatful Moments.
We’re going back to school — but we’re going back in time. Welcome to our new series: Back to School: The Way We Remember It Part memory. Part history. Part conversation. For the next several days, we’re going to take a little trip down the hallways of the schools we remember from our student day.
We’re going to talk about the school cafeteria foods we couldn’t wait to eat. We’re going to remember when older students could leave campus for lunch. We’re going to talk about classes like automotive and cosmetology, school plays and gymnastics, friendships, traditions and some of the things that might sound completely unbelievable to children today.
Yes, we’re even going to talk about the fact that some schools once had smoking areas. Before anyone worries, we’re not promoting smoking. We’re remembering a time when things that seem unimaginable today were simply part of everyday school life. That’s what makes history interesting. Did you know my dad worked at my high school as he maintained the typewriters in the typing class. Something our children will never get to experience.
Sometimes we don’t realize were living through a different time until we look back. And this series is going to be personal for me, too. I met David in high school. Uncle Mike to and my best friends who I’m still friends with today and still see and also David’s best friends he still talks to and hangs out with.
So somewhere between the classrooms, school bells, friends and everyday teenage life was a meeting that would eventually become part of the rest of my story. That’s the kind of memory we’re looking for. Not just the big historical moments. The little ones. The cafeteria meal you still remember. The teacher whose name you haven’t forgotten. The school play you went to see.
The class that taught you something you actually used later in life. The friend who stayed in your life. Or maybe the person you met in the hallway who eventually became your husband. We’re going to remember all of it. And we’re hoping you’ll remember with us. Because this isn’t about saying that school was better back then.
It’s about remembering how it was. Some things have changed for the better. Some things have disappeared that we wish hadn’t. And some things are simply memories that belong to a particular generation. So pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and come back to school with us. For Back to School: The Way We Remember It starts today. And tomorrow, we’re heading straight to the cafeteria. I have a feeling we’re going to be hungry.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates