For the first time, Craigslist triggers GOOD memories.

               A few nights ago, I stated that it has become very hard for me to think of any good memories of my past that do not become over shadowed by a bad memory or two. The deep depression I have never allows me to feel like there has ever been any good in my life and no matter how I try I can never find any good. This past post I referred to, I spoke about my Baseball game as one example where I loved to play and my parents never came to watch, good over shadowed by bad. Well, for the first time in a very long time, I was triggered by an ad on Craigslist that had a couple of photos attached. Triggers of GOOD memories and not the bad that has been going on for the longest time. The ad, a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle that someone here in Syracuse is selling. My father had a Volkswagen when I was a child, and even though this car was not the same color as the one my father had, his was green and this one was blue, it was enough to bring back memories of just my father and I riding in it. Let me have some fun and let me tell you a short story about the Volkswagen and the Doughnuts.

            I was about ten years old on that snowy night back in Jersey, we had just received about three inches of snow, all wet and slushy. Back in those days, three inches of snow was something we rarely saw and if we did, well it was time to hit the hill with anything you could find that would slide you down to the bottom. On this particular cold yet bright lit night, as it must have been a full moon casting its shadow over the new fallen snow, is when my dad wanted to go out and play, just like the stories he told from when we lived in upstate New York. In the most upper northern part of New York state, parts could get upwards of five feet on the ground or more, as the snow never melted during those cold bitter winters they had. So as dad grabbed his keys, looked at me and for some unknown reason asked me if I wanted to come along for a ride. Oh the fun I had as we drove around base housing at first, just driving around, until we headed for the schools and the big school parking lot. This would be the first time I would be introduced to the other meaning of the word, Doughnuts. We spun around more times then I could remember this little green Volkswagen car, and all I knew it was neat and my dad was doing it. After spinning around doing doughnuts for what seemed like an hour we headed up to the back roads of the housing area, and this time right to the front of the locked access gates, where we would do another round of doughnuts before heading home. I don’t know the reason why, but we never did share this experience again, and as far as I can remember my dad never went out doing doughnuts again. I do remember mom yelling because he had me out so late, but she was yelling at him, not me for a change so I did not care that she was upset, and it’s not enough to cloud the memory of the little green Volkswagen spinning around at school in the middle of the night.

            That was many years ago, I was a child and I had fun with my father. Jumping up to about 2 years ago I had the same fun with my children in the empty parking lot of a local store in my big Dodge Ram 1500. I had four of the kids and we went up and just spun around a few times. I did share the story of my dad taking me out to do that when I was a child and that it was only my father and I that went along. For some reason we never did that again, and last year we never did it but I think that just to create a good memory for me and my kids, we just might have to go out one night and spin the truck around again, of course it has to be in two wheel drive to have any good effect ya know!! I know it is a good memory that my kids have because once and a while when we drive by the store they often mention and ask if we are going to do it again. I think this year, depressed or not I am going to give my mind a spin and take my body and the kids along. Now we need to just wait for some snow to fall, and here in central New York that could be any day now, just have to keep watching the weather.


This morning when I awoke and went upstairs, I looked out and saw that Jack Frost had come to pay us a visit which I believe is the first visit of the year. It brings back to mind a saying that mother said every time we woke to frost and that was “Frost is on the Pumpkin”. I remember always looking for a pumpkin until I realized it was just something she said. Now that I think about it, there were a lot of phrases learned from mother growing up. My mother’s parents were Polish so we all did pick up on a few Polish words, and I do remember going to several dances and picnics with the Polish Church. I won’t go into memories that can go along with that because I am on a roll here with good memories. Being Polish, Easter and Christmas were very big holidays for us. I know, I talked once how I remember Christmas under the tree for me was nothing like my sister and especially my brother, however it is the food and trinkets that I remember now. One of the biggest things that we did as kids I remember was mother baking all sorts of Christmas Cookies. Even the Kurashiki was hand made which I wish I had the recipe to make, thank god they at least sell it in stores now. When it came to the tree, we all would decorate the tree and I remember how they would have to remind us to place some ornaments on the back side of the tree, as we always found the open spots in the front. Dad would always set the tree up, string the lights and we would go at it one by one hanging them as mother pulled each out of the box. I remember the one thing I loved to do was make faces in the BIG round ornament and see my reflection in it. Then dad would hang the garland and the tree would be finished, ready for the curtains to be opened for the world to see.

For the Easter holiday it was the Polish meats we had that bring back memories, something we still do today. We would always go shopping for the best cuts of meats, Kielbasa, Kishka and Polish Ham. We would buy the best bread, boil eggs, include Horseradish and other items in a basked and have them blessed on the Saturday prior to Easter Sunday. Another thing we did every year was that on Good Friday, which we always had school off, we would all be home to say prayers in front of the crucifix and candles at 3:00 sharp, the hour that Jesus was said to die on the cross. I remember delivering papers as a paperboy once and mother helping me because we had to be home by 3:00 as this was something we did no matter what. Sunday was always church, then home to eat from the basket of blessed foods. Later that day, we would have the big ham dinner with dinner rolls. The rolls were always my favorite as they still are today.

I am not going to let thoughts of my past enter my head as I am fighting them off because I want to have a pleasant post for a while. However, I am going to mention how surprised I am that my mother would be so stuck on tradition with religious holidays and still allow what happened in my past to happen. It does not make sense but then again, none of my past makes sense to me so why not this too. Well, I am going to end on that note as I am going to sit here, go back to the ad on craigslist and remember a little more about a Little Green car, zooming around the base, spinning around with two people inside. Until Next Time..

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