The town we grew up in has definitely grown and with this growth has come change. I guess that is good in many ways. Still, I miss the days of the neighborhood stores, dirt streets, walking to school, riding bikes, playing marbles and not having to lock our doors at night.

Many of these things, I have talked about in other articles but some need to be reprinted. Also, I miss the days when the mosquito truck was spraying for mosquitoes, and we were told not to play behind the truck, and we did anyway, and have lived to tell about it. Gone are the days when we drank water from a garden hose and let the water run until it got cold. Mom always had a jug of water in the ice box, and we got a swig anytime we wanted it. We even drank water from the red water fountains outside the gym door that we had to bend over and push the pedal with our foot for the water to come out. We all survived drink Pepsi Cola from a bottle filled with peanuts and now they have can drinks. Someone, please tell me how we survived Coach Wagner’s football practice without water and took salt tablets after practice until we got to Carver’s where we bought a big drink with crushed ice to cool our bodies. Some of us can even still taste that chili dog that went along with the drink.

The days of riding around Charlie Bell’s or Radio View Grill to show off to our girlfriend or trying to get a girlfriend. Remember girls wearing boys’ class rings with almost a whole candle-full of wax used to make it fit? He would wear her ring on his pinky finger. At night, we would listen to Cousin Brucey on channel WABC in New York on our crystal radio and told everyone the next day at school. We were proud to get the reception!

I miss the days when Mama called us to supper because Dad had gotten home. No one ate until he got home and said the blessing. I can still see Big Walter’s green truck coming up Ninth Street precisely at 6 p.m. after a long day at work. He parked his truck, and it was used as home base when Betty, Jane, Thad Hodges, Rose Ann, Larry, Steve, Mike, Wayne, Bubba and I played kick the can or hide and seek — games no longer played by kids today. I miss the days when a baseball card was like money in the bank. Now it would be if we had not used them in the spokes of our bikes.

I miss when uptown was downtown or just Main Street, where a person could purchase anything from hardware to clothes; the days when you could just charge it and not have to have money or a card, when a handshake was a man’s word, and it did not have to be written on paper. People knew everyone and were related most of the time.

I miss when kids played marbles, bob jacks or fly back and were competitive in everything. Some even had a yo-yo that was made by Duncan and could make it sleep or rock the cradle when used correctly. I mis the days of playing small fry softball behind the gym on Ninth Street with a softball.

Yes, times have changed. We now have a mall, shopping centers and even a Walmart Store. Maybe it is not good to live in the past, but for me, they were good times, and I only want others to remember just how good we had it and for young adults to appreciate what they now have. Our generation was so fortunate in many ways, even if we did not have the modern conveniences of today. We had to use our imagination and did not have computers to think for us. We could even count change!

They were the best of times with the best of friends and in the best of places, Washington, NC!

— Harold Jr.

Harold Robinson Jr. is a native of Washington.