A trip down memory lane!

I just drove 2 hours from St. Louis to Carbondale, Illinios for the night. I’m attending a conference tomorrow so I opted to spend the night in a hotel the night before (SQUEAL!).

After 45 minutes or so on the freeway, waze took me on another highway. I assumed I would link up with another major road since I was still more than an hour from my destination. But, waze did not. It took me the distance but it took me faaaaaar beyond the miles, many miles down Memory Lane to Lucedale. Each small town I passed through brought a smile to my face. It was just me for most of the miles on the back roads and highway. Each small town looked like and reminded me of Lucedale. 

So many flashes of images came to mind, memories jostled, laughter heard, conversations rehashed….

Take a trip down memory lane with me. Does it spark any memories for you?

I’m starting in elementary school. I went to Lucedale Elementary and we had this old gym by the first grade hall. It was always rumored to be haunted. We rarely went in there but when we did it had a damp musty feel. With our skinny little bird legs carrying us, we lined up and walked through the entry way into the gym area. As we walked, we could see this painted Rebel (mascot) and rumor was his eyes moved to watch you. There were so many stories of what happened underneath the gym as if that wasn't enough. Under the stairs you could see fencing, and one could peek in and see grass and just plain old ground. How did so many of us see more? Bodies, skeletons, people reaching for help……it still gives me the willies thinking about that place.

I remember fun trends like jelly shoes and charm necklaces. Oh how I loved to trade charms. I remember some people who had so many charms, I coveted them all. I’m looking at you Jennifer O’Neal. I remember wanting a Glo-worm but never getting one (no worries, I wasn’t damaged). I remember my first Cabbage Patch Doll, Collette Alana. She had red hair. There was a whole round display at Sears one day, and I finally got to pick one out. I mean, it came with a BIRTH CERTIFICATE! I collected all of the California Raisins at Hardee’s.

I remember touching a Black girl’s hair for the first and only time. I had stared at it every single day of first grade. I was behind her in line. I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was like I was out of my body. I asked her, “C, can I touch your hair?” to which she replied yes. Like the speed of light, my hand shot up and touched her beautiful poof and went back down. I doubt anyone even SAW it, I was so fast. I giggle about that every time I touch Luba’s hair.

I remember playing all day outside – most of which was with Blake, my neighbor. We were gone from morning til night. You would see two kids on bike riding down the highway with camo vests (with most likely a squirrel tail whipping in the wind and pellet guns or fishing rods in tow). We hunted, fished, raised cattle, rode bikes, built things, nursed baby animals we found and played. We were inseparable until middle school when you can’t just flit around with your male neighbor.

Middle school, how awkward. I remember my trampoline in the back yard. How many “routines” did we actually make and up and execute? I distinctly remember my routine to “Push It” by Salt n Pepa and it ended with a perfect dismount from the trampoline. I just brought my boom box outside, plugged it in to the outside plug, and played the best songs that I had RECORDED FROM THE RADIO ON TAPE. Remember that? Push record when the song starts.

Mixed tapes…another good memory. Or cassette singles? I remember buying “Superwoman” by Karyn White and taking it to Kristie Kelley’s party so it would be a slow dance option. She did always have the best parties. Everyone wanted to go to Kristie’s parties and what I loved was how inclusive her family was. Her parents were “those parents” who just got us back in those awkward years. They created a space where gangly pimply adolescents could just be. Kristie even had a room that was all purple. Of course, Mrs. Frances totally understood all things girl. 

We didn't have MTV (or good cable or any internet) in those days. My brother recorded Friday night videos for me on VHS because it came on after I went to bed. BAM, Saturday morning meant open eyes, make a pop-tart and tune in to see what the top 10 videos were. I wore out a few tapes rewinding and repeating "Hush Hush" by Paula Abdul and "If I Close My Eyes Forever" By Ozzy and Lita Ford. 

  

I also remember the death of a friend’s little brother during our middle school years. We all learned that death does not wait for us to be ready or “old enough.” You just can’t make sense of a child’s death.  

I remembered introducing myself as if my dad was famous – “Hi, I’m Danielle. My parents are Cary and Peggy Jones.” In those days, we all knew one another by family name. Before I could hang out with a new friend or go on a date, my parents would ask “Who do they belong to?” When I started working in the school district there in George County, I found myself doing the same thing to kids, “Who is your mom?” It just made it all make more sense. Reputation carried you far. You could overcome a bad one but it took work.

My mom always took me to Mobile after Sunday church. I loved this. We went to Red Lobster and then the mall. Occasionally I got to bring a friend. Mom would give me $20 and I’d be on my way for hours. My friend of that day and I would always buy a matching purse at one of those accessories stores at the mall. Rebekah Merck, I still remember red ones we bought at the store next to Woolworth's at Bel Air Mall. On Monday, we were hot stuff. That purse was always full of jolly ranchers too. Jolly ranchers brought all the boys to the yard at the time. We also made sure that purse had a plastic photo album in it with all the newest pictures that we had DEVELOPED. It was common to look at others’ “picture albums” so it changed with the newest pictures or who you were made at (those came out of the book until you were friends again). Purse musts included photo albums, jolly ranchers, comb/brush, and lotion. 

I remember church as I passed houses. I imagined how many of them were relaxing through naps before they would soon head off to Sunday night church. Remember that? At First Baptist, we had choir practice, training union at 6, and then church at 7. I couldn’t wait to get old enough to attend a “lock in” or one of the occasional services where all youth came from other Baptist churches to meet at one after the 7pm service. I can’t even remember what that was called, but I loved it.

Because our town was so small, thankfully high end purses were never a thing. You were “in” if you had a Liz Claiborne purse. Bonus points if you had a bottle of Liz Claiborne perfume, which came in a triangle spray bottle. Dooney & Bourke hit the market (for “other people”) and we all flocked to the store that opened carrying knock offs.

How many times must we have gone to see Reba McEntire or George Strait? On that note, how many pairs of colored Wranglers and Roper boots did we have for donning for such occasions?

As I reminisced up the timeline in my mind, I went to high school. Before we even made it through day 1 of 9^th grade, everyone knew Joe Dunnam was dreamy. All of the K-8 schools finally merged and we had FRESH MEAT! New friends! But how scary! I still remember our eclectic groups that joined for AP English with Mrs. Howell. I thought of her the other day and wondered about her. I remember her as I organize a book club. I love books and I think I fell in love with book discussions in that class where personalities collided and social barriers dissolved.

I remember Interact Club with our sponsor, Mrs. Luce. I volunteered to go to Rotary Club any Monday that didn’t have spots filled. I think Jesus himself made that hamburger steak and gravy that was served most Mondays. We got to leave school to attend the Rotary meeting with all the business men, held at the Coffee Pot on Mondays. The Coffee Pot had a scratching post outside that was our claim to fame. Sadly, the scratching post is there but the Coffee Pot is now a Chinese restaurant. 

Who remembers Katmandu’s? Katmandu’s was a dance place for 18 and over that opened on Airport Boulevard in Mobile. It was like the mecca for coolness as we had nothing like that before. We had only “dances” after Friday night football games so this was grand although it closed shortly after. Our friend Shane used to drive Zan and me. Mark Havard was there, always in the forefront, and that boy could dance. (Mark, I hope you read this). I also remembered the trend of boys wearing pacifiers on a necklace. (Mark, I’ll never tell if you had one…) what must our high school teachers have thought?

We talked on the phone after school and on weekends on a phone that was connected to the wall. If you got in trouble, your parents unplugged it from your room and hung on to that bad boy til things blew over. We wrote letters and exchanged them during breaks and recesses. Cell phones came out at the end of high school for us. We had an antenna that connected to the outside of the car and a “bag phone” that fit on the console area. It was as big as a house phone. It was magic. I could only use mine in case of emergency because there were no value or family plans.

We had typing class which meant no computers as we know it today. We had typewriters. Yearly school supply lists included corrective tape and White Out. I loved typing, and I was good at it. You put a book on a stand that had preprinted paragraphs and you went to town on that keyboard so see how you could beat the day before’s WPM (words per minute, young ones). I typed Coach Sellers’ basketball certificates for him.We had computer class, but it was COMPUTER CLASS where you learned how to do a simple program. The screens were black with green characters. 

These are just a few that came to mind so vividly as I drove. As I always say, I would never trade growing up in a small town for anything else.  I love that a handful of us still make time to get together when I go home at Christmas. I think as we laugh and catch up each time, we still see each other at any of those stages in the early years. I remember Natasha’s super straight here that smelled divine. Seriously, everyone asked her if they could smell her hair. I remember Alisha’s upbeat personality and the way her lips pursed as she concentrated and wrote her school work. I remember Jennifer’s devilish smile and bows in her hair. And at any age, she sang all the time. Love you girls!

Lucedale people, what others can you think of? 

Happy reminiscing,

Danielle