My husband and I talk about “the good old days” a lot; when kids could walk the streets alone without their parents worrying; when everything was simple and easy; when there wasn’t any pressure to buy the coolest new piece of technology. When my husband, James, and I were children, we lived in a small town where everybody just had what they had. People didn’t buy a bunch of things they didn’t need. It was much different than today.

I lived in Warnerfield my whole childhood. I remember walking down Main Street in the summer. I would go into Freeman’s General Store and buy penny candy. I always brought exactly four pennies. I would get one gumball, one peppermint stick, and two lemon drops. Eating my treats happily, I would then proceed to the pet shop and look at the animals. The cats interested me the most, because I couldn’t have one of my own. My father was allergic.

James lived down the road from me. He and I loved to climb trees. We played with three other children from our street: Mary Beth, Ellen, and Peter. They climbed trees with us, as well. We caused mischief at the farm on the other side of Warnerfield. We teased the animals and climbed the farmer’s apple trees until he yelled at us. Every day I came home with dirty knees, scraped elbows, or a tear in my dress. My mother would always laugh and say, “Oh Nancy, what am I ever gonna do with you?”

I loved going to school. James, Mary Beth, Ellen, and Peter were all in my grade. We loved being together at recess and lunch. Sometimes after school we hung out at the playground and helped each other with our homework. Then we’d walk home together, wash up for dinner, and eat with our families.

Dinner at my house was nice. My mother was an amazing cook. My father was amazing at eating. We had funny conversations over dinner. Our beagle, Katie, was always begging for scraps. She was a sucker for mother’s turkey and gravy.

Overall, I’d say my childhood was wonderful. That is why James and I recall such happy memories all the time. Today we are old. We have too many aches and pains to climb trees. In my opinion, new technology just makes things more difficult and wastes people’s money. That is why James and I have only one TV, the same as when we were first married. We don’t have cell phones. We live in the country, get all our vegetables from our garden, and I make a lot of our clothes. I want “the good old days” to stay forever. I want my life to be simple, just like it was when I was a carefree child.