Sixties Child

Sixties Child

Born mid-summer at the decade’s start,
I was a carefree sixties child at heart.
Growing up in the Age of Aquarius,
my life was joyful and gregarious.

We dialed our friends on black rotary phones
and walked to the dairy for ice cream cones.
We survived hot summers with no air con,
running through sprinklers with our underwear on.

My banana-seat bike was my trusty steed;
the neighborhood streets were all I would need.
Baseball cards clipped to the spokes spun so fast,
making motorcycle sounds as we passed.

We chased the Good Humor truck for a treat,
barefoot on warm pavement down the street.
Playing tag at night as the fireflies blinked
and washing our hair at the kitchen sink.

We counted our pennies with great delight
for candy at Scotty’s on Friday night.
Wax lips and root beer barrels lined the shelf—
a nickel could make you feel rich yourself.

Our television was in black and white;
the sounds of Laugh-In kept me up at night.
We fell asleep to the humming of fans
and woke to the smell of bacon in pans.

It was a special time of innocence,
when simple joys were life’s magnificence.
Though decades have quietly drifted apart,
I’m still that carefree sixties child at heart.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2026
July 11, 2026

Happy Saturday! This is such a late post. I pondered this a little and just jotted down memories from my childhood that would blow my kids minds! I have told them many of the stories, and they often wonder how we survived without cell phones, air conditioning, or a family shower – yep, that’s right – we only had a bathtub. *MIND BLOWN*

We had an 89^th Birthday celebration for Mom today, and she was very appreciative. My sister made a baked ziti, I brought a huge salad and a cake that had us cracking up. Apparently now you need to pre-order a layer cake about 3 days in advance, so I bought a single layer sheet cake and asked for someone to write “Happy Birthday Mom!” on it. Well, a lady who had a sprained left hand and dangling gauze said she could do it with her right hand. Well bless her heart, the job was pretty bad… but I said nothing, and just bought it LOL. We had a good laugh about the story, but it actually tasted good! Haha, the main thing is we were together and Mom was in very good spirits. And that is the best thing any of us could hope for. She is AMAZING, and I bought her a ton of puzzle books and hard candy to keep her busy. She just loves doing them, and it keeps her mind sharp as a tack! We are blessed.

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend – stay cool! Xoxo
Love,
Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 2.18 – Kids These Days
Hard Bonus: Include something from the past that would blow the minds of today’s kids (rotary phones, no air conditioning, shared bathtub)
Easy Bonus: Mention a favorite song title from your own days of youth (“Age of Aquarius’”)