Heather has been asking about Donna a lot over the last few days. I put on a brave face and answer her questions. Wednesday night I had just finished reading Heather her bedtime story and had a talk about Donna. When I came down stairs Matthew was with Ian but he looked sad. I asked him if something was bothering him and he began to cry. He told me he was missing his auntie Do. All my good intentions of holding back my tears failed miserably. The two of us sat, hugged and cried. I asked Matthew if he would like to watch a recent video I have of Donna. The two of us sat and watched it together. Well I sat and cried. I'm not sure why but Donna has been playing on my mind a lot lately, obviously the children's too. I have lost family and friends in the past, but I don't ever remember feeling so empty. I suppose it's because you always imagine your big sis will be there for you.

To be young again.

Ian sent me this yesterday, it upset me but in a nice way it brought back lots of memories from my childhood with my brother and sisters. We used to be really cruel to Donna (she never said stop :) ) in lots of ways like tipping her wheelchair back and leaving her, standing on the back of her chair when it had snowed so we could have rides going down a big hill. I still miss her so much.
Hope you enjoy.

Just for a minute, forget everything stressful and read this...............

Close your eyes and go back in time...
Before the Internet...
Before semi-automatics, joyriders and crack....
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo...

Way back........

I'm talking about Hide and Seek in the park.
The corner shop.
Hopscotch.
Butterscotch.
Skipping.
Handstands.
Elasticc Twist.
Football with an old can.
Fingerbob.
Beano, Dandy, Buster, Twinkle and Dennis the menace.
Roly Poly.
Hula Hoops, jumping the stream, building dams, making dens.
The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.
Bazooka Joe bubble gum.
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune.
Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe Neapolitan with sauce and sprinkles or perhaps a screwball.

Wait......

Watching Saturday morning cartoons, short commercials or the flicks.
ChildrensFilm Foundation, The Double Deckers, Red Hand Gang, The Tomorrow People, Tiswas or Swapshop?, and 'Why Don't You'? - or staying up for Doctor who.
When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like going somewhere. Earwigs, wasps, stinging nettles and bee stings.
White dog sh*t.
Sticky fingers.
Playing Marbles.
Ball bearings.
Big 'uns and Little 'uns.
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Zorro.
Climbing trees.
Building igloos out of snow banks.
Walking to school, no matter what the weather.
Running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Jumping on the bed.
Pillow fights.
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
Being tired from playing....remember that?
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.
Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.
Choppers and Grifters.
Eating raw jelly.
Orange squash ice pops.

Remember when...

There were two types of trainers - girls and boys, and Dunlop Green Flash - and the only time you wore them at school was for P.E.
You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas eve.
When nobody owned a pure-bred dog.
When 25p was decent pocket money Curly Wurleys.
Space Dust.
Toffo's.
Wham Bars.
Top Trumps.
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When being sent to the head's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc.
Parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of them.

Didn't that feel good?
Just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that!

Remember when....
Decisions were made by going " Ip Dip Dog Sh*t"
And you all joined up for playing...... No boys/ No girls allowed!
"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly".
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was germs.
And the worst thing in your day was having to sit next to one.
It was unbelievable that 'British Bulldog 123' wasn't an Olympic event.
Having a weapon in school, meant being caught with a catapult.
Nobody was prettier than Mum.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable aspirin.
Ice cream was considered a basic food group.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.

Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED.

I'm sitting here with a Lemsip typing this. I feel lousy today. So what's been going on in Simeland recently? Not much.
Matthew has stopped his piano lessons ,which both Ian and myself were really peeved about but we didn't think it right to force him. He's doing well at school at the moment and seems happy enough.
YUCK just got to the bottom of my Lemsip.
Heather is fine, I really don't know where she gets her energy from, she bounces from morning till night.
Both Ian and myself are fine. Were actually going out on Friday night, well that's the plan - let's face it, one of us will end up being ill.
Matthew has just discovered Smarterchild on msn and thinks its great. I have had to tell him to come off the computer. If you havent come across it yet its a quirky robot that you can communicate with. Just add smarterchild@hotmail.com to your contacts list in MSN Messenger, and start a conversation - great fun.

Amarantine

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