Summertime

Summertime, the months of June, July, and August, were complete free of any school obligations until the teachers wanted more money, and the school year was extended.

Summertime, school free time, was between Memorial Day and Labor Day and the only time that we lost part of June was, if and when, our snow days did not cover the number of days we were out of school due to snow.

Summertime for me was growing tomatoes and cucumbers in an 7X10 foot garden out behind the house and then walking around the community with a basket trying to sell what I grew for money.  Most of the time, I sold everything to neighbors who were just trying to be nice.

Summertime for me was also mowing lawns of neighbors close by who wanted to help out.  I charged more money if I had to use my mower and my gasoline as opposed to their mower and their gasoline.

Summertime was when my mother bought me my only pair of tennis shoes that I had to wear for the next year, even if they were falling apart several months later.  I got one pair of tennis shoes and that was it.  Knowing that did not stop me from wearing those shoes into the ground.

Summertime meant there was no school and no homework, but my mother put a word on the refrigerator and by dinnertime, my sister and I had to know how to spell that word and use it correctly in a sentence.

Summertime meant that there were daily chores and weekly chores that needed to be done before I could leave the house to play, regardless of who came over wanting me to go somewhere.  My parents, especially my mother was not to be bribed by their early presence.

Summertime in 2025 is not the same as summertime in 1955 or even 1960.   It was a different time back then...  a time that it, seems to me, favored children.