Nuclear duck and cover exercises were the norm and then vanished. Microwave ovens and processed foods are a huge difference now. Mom would spend hours making meals from scratch — fried chicken, meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast with vegetables. Fastfood places didn’t exist in my area until a place called — I think — the Golden Triangle emerged. Then came a McDonald. I remember the first time that Mom, driving her big old brown Buick with its fins on the back said, “Should we eat there?” She was as unsure as us. We tried it and liked it, finding it inexpensive but tasty.

My recess memories are like yours. We were out there, period. Music was way different. Just like television, there were limited channels with limited fare. We found a local AM rock and roll station that also played some soul & R&B. Man, has that all changed or what?

Pizza emerged concurrent with me growing up. First there was, what? Pizza? What’s that? Then there was pizza in a box, and then pizza from a little corner pizza shop. Pizza wasn’t the ubiquitous business that it is now.

Sodas — or soda pop, or pop — was limited to holidays and birthday parties. And beer was all American lagers until the imports, like Heineken, showed up.

Yes, there have been some changes, right? Cheers