Category: Memories

So this is a funny one…My parents had a party one Saturday night when we lived in Indiana, and many of their friends liked screwdrivers. Mom and Dad, being quite efficient, made pitchers of screwdrivers in advance of the gathering. It was a very successful event.

Sunday morning came, and all six kids clustered around the breakfast table getting started on the meal. When Dad took his seat, he took a sip of the orange juice and said, “Jesus Christ, Joni! What are you doing feeding these kids screwdrivers?”

Yes, we had our first taste of liquor. We all thought the OJ tasted a bit funny, but no one said anything. Amy was quite young, and as I recall, she drank a couple of glasses. She was probably unsteady on her feet for a while after that.

We laugh about that one to this day…

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

So growing up in the 1970s, we didn’t have the wide array of milk options that we have today. If there was a milk allergy in the house, there was but one choice: powdered milk. I have one word for it: Ugh!

You see, powdered milk didn’t taste even remotely similar to regular milk. Being raised with five other siblings, the milk was consumed rather quickly, so every night someone would have to make the powdered milk. We rotated the chore. I hated when it was my turn because it smelled, well, gross.

We also made orange juice from concentrate each night, but I didn’t mind that. As a matter of fact, I used a spoon to get the last drop of concentrate. Sometimes that last bit didn’t make it into the container. Call it my version of licking the bowl.

The milk was made in the green container, and the orange juice was mixed in the orange container. Pretty easy system…Well, not always.

One night someone (I seriously have no idea who) mixed up the containers so the juice was made in the green container. Dad was the first down to breakfast and proceeded to pour orange juice over his Grape Nuts. “Jesus Christ, Joni,” my father called out, yet he decided to take a bite of this liquid error. He liked it. From there on, Dad put orange juice on his Grape Nuts. I think he still does to this day.

I hopped on the OJ over cereal bandwagon because, as stated earlier, I hated the taste of powdered milk. I still eat, not just Grape Nuts, but all of my cereal with orange juice over it. People think I’m weird. To that I say, “Is that the only reason?” LOL!

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

So if you were lucky, you had the use of a car in high school. If you were really lucky, you got to drive to school each day and out on weekends.

We had a Dodge Dart. It was originally purchased when we lived in Indiana as Dad’s car. For it’s time, it was fancy. Dad eventually traded up, and the Dodge Dart became the mode of transportation for Steve, Tammy, John, and me at one time or another. It was a simple system. Whoever was a licensed driver drove the other siblings to high school and about. If we had two drivers, it was up for grabs. The Dart was then handed down from driver to driver.

I fondly remember my time with our Dodge Dart. It was wonderful to experience the independence that the open road offered. Sure, it was an old car, but I didn’t care. It didn’t matter that the Dart had no air conditioning and required additional power steering fluid every other day. Helping out my friends by giving them rides home after track practice or meeting the gang at the arcade on a Saturday night was made easier with my own transport. Not having the rely on others for rides was a gift.

So a shout out to Dad and Mom for providing us with not only a reliable vehicle during our high school years but also the sense of autonomy that came along with it. And to others out there: What did you drive in high school?

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

Living in Miami in the 1970s to early 1980s, the population was booming. Schools became very overcrowded, but the high schools had a crowding crisis. That brought in something that was a bit tricky: split shifts.

Believe it or not, they created two shifts at many high schools: a 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. shift and a 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. shift. Can you imagine a parent having to navigate multiple kids through separate school sessions? Well Mom did.

If I recall correctly (so don’t hold me to this), Steve and Tammy were on the 7 – 12 shift, and John was on the 12 – 5 shift. Interestingly, the late shift worked out well for John because he had early morning swim practice. But could you imagine getting home from high school after 5:00? I wasn’t in high school yet, so this schedule didn’t impact me.

That odd schedule also had us eating our meals in shifts. Everybody was up at different times, came home at different times, not to mention swim practice. Todd, so young he was not yet in school, enjoyed the crazy schedule as he became a social breakfast eater and would sit down with each shift and enjoy some cereal.

I imagine this must have been exhausting for Mom. All these different schedules and all those carpools would have driven me crazy. Mom took it in stride: “If you do in heaven what you do on earth, I’ll spent all of eternity running God’s carpools.”

Luckily, with time, more schools were built, crowding became less of an issue, and schedules got back to normal. But those of us who were around for split shifts remember it well. Do you?

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

So as Tropical Storm Nestor pounds our neighborhood, I find myself remembering the storms of my childhood. That was long before technology had become a part of our daily lives, so a strong storm meant one thing: board games.

Do you remember sitting on the family room floor playing a fierce game of Monopoly or Risk? Those were two of my favorite rainy day games as you could play them for most of the day, and have fun while staying dry.

We didn’t have video games or Netflix, so we were content to play Life or Clue for hours even if the power was out. There was no complaining that there was nothing to do. We had games!

It was particularly fun in my family because we had six kids, so we didn’t even need friends to come over to enjoy the day. But if they did come by, the more the merrier!

What are you doing if you are feeling the effects of this storm? Go into your closet and get out a board game…

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)

So, do people still have photo albums? It may be a silly question, but I ponder it because of technology. Photos can instantly be pulled up on our phones, or they can run on a loop on our computer or digital picture frame.

Lucky for me, Mom and Tammy are both avid scrapbookers. This is particularly advantageous during family reunion time. Hundreds of photos are taken during the reunion. Mom, Tammy, and other helpers pull together the most amazing memory book to be distributed the following year.

I recently pulled these books out of a cabinet and gave them a permanent home on my bedside table along with Mom’s Let’s Walk Down Memory Lane which I previously wrote about. I recognize that I can’t fully appreciate the value of these books if I don’t keep them in view. They’re now available for me to easily peruse anytime, but the memory books are also available to anyone else who may want to take a gander.

The memories pictured are priceless. Each family within our extended family has a designated section, and candid photos abound throughout. I can relive our gatherings anytime I want just by turning a page, and it’s such fun to see how everyone has grown and changed over time.

So a shout out to Mom, Tammy, and all those involved in making the memories come alive! Every family should have historians like you!

Stay groovy…

–Susie

(Copyright 2019 Susie Krivacic)