Ticket To Ride

I don't think I made a secret of the fact that my birthday was last week. In fact, I expect to celebrate for the whole month of May. But when you celebrate a major birthday (which is anything past forty) it kind of gets you to thinking about the passage of time. I graduated in the year 1969 so I get to say I am a child of the '60's which is a cool thing to be. The 60's started out slow, but along about midway, things really picked up steam, ending with a bang. For the benefit of y'all who weren't fortunate enough to be a teenager during these turbulent times, I thought I would give y'all a crash history lesson beginning with what really was the icon of the 60's, the Ford Mustang. Forget your daddy's car...this car defined our generation of cool! There is no better ride for a trip down memory lane than this except maybe in blue.I'm going to be skipping around a bit, so just bear with me. You know the memory is one of the first things to go, so I just have to write as I remember. They say if you can remember the 60's, you weren't really there...but I was there all right...just as a weekend hippie with no need for matches.

I graduated in May 1969. In case you can't do the math, that means my 40 year high school reunion is just around the corner! Richard Nixon was inaugurated as President of the United States and Golda Meir became Prime Minister of Israel. Apollo 11 was launched and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Woodstock hit New York and Hurricane Camille, the gulf coast. The Brady Bunch and Sesame Street both debuted on television and are still on. The Mets won the World Series and WalMart incorporated, both miracles! The great Emmit Smith was born and the great Judy Garland died. We were listening to some of the greatest music ever like "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "Proud Mary", and a "Whole Lotta Love". Led Zeppelin released "Led Zeppelin I" while the ending of "Easy Rider" stayed with us forever. It was definitely a year for firsts!

1968 saw a coming of changes. Johnny Cash recorded "Live At Folsom Prison"and Charlton Heston got lost on "The Planet of the Apes". 60 Minutes and Rowan & Martin's Laugh In" debuted on television. Hair opened on Broadway. Youth ruled as Janis and the Big Brother and the Holding Co. gave us "Cheap Thrills"! On the AM car radio, "Hey Jude", "Born To Be Wild", "Chain of Fools" and "In-a-gadda-da-vida" rocked as we cruised. Tony Hawks was born and we lost Helen Keller, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

1967 was the "Summer of Love". Super Bowl I was played with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Kansas City Chiefs. Aretha was getting airtime with "Respect" and Elvis was marrying Priscilla. We had the Monterrey Pop Festival and the first heart transplant. The Beatles were huge with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Jimi Hendrix asked "Are You Experienced"? We all danced to "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" on Sump'n Else at North Park. Ron Chapman was our disc jockey and we all wanted to be Joanie Prather and be a go-go girl to "Light My Fire" and "San Francisco".

1966 was a year of fun. The muscle cars and music were fast. Twiggy was thin and the skirts were short! The Beach Boys rocked our world with "Pet Sounds"! Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of India, Daylight Savings Time was observed and Caesar's Palace opened in Vegas. Star Trek debuted and made lifetime Trekkies out of a lot of us. We were just starting to make some noise on 8-track players with "When A Man Loves A Woman", "These Boots Are Made For Walking" and "Wild Thing" and then Janet Jackson was born.

1965 was a very good year for music. Hullabaloo was on television and we could watch Sonny and Cher sing "I Got You, Babe" and get our hearts broke listening to the Righteous Brothers croon "Unchained Melody". Petula rocked us with "Downtown" while the Watts riots shocked us. "Charlie Brown Christmas" and "The Sound of Music" stole our hearts and we still had the right "Darrin" on Bewitched. We saw LBJ sworn in and Churchill's funeral. The Astrodome opened and "Days of Our Lives" changed our lives. Fashion got thrown for a loop with the mini-skirt and men everywhere just said thank you!

Elvis returned home from Germany is 1960. Harper Lee gave us "To Kill A Mockingbird" while Chubby Checker encouraged us to do the "Twist". Music was all over the place going from "Alley Oop" to "Tell Laura I Love Her". It was little plain vanilla at the beginning of the sixties, but the quiet wouldn't last thanks to the "Pill"!

1961 saw things beginning to pop with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. It seems apropos that it was an "upside down" year, because things soon would be turned for a loop! The Peace Corps was formed, the Vietnam War officially began and Barbie was introduced to Ken. "I Fall To Pieces", "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "Where The Boys Are" were on the hi-fis in middle class America. We are forever thankful that George Clooney was born in 1961 and that we had "Breakfast At Tiffany's"!

Can you believe it...WalMart opened its first store in Arkansas in 1962 and forever changed retail. Ringo Starr joined the Beatles. Spider Man made his debut in comic books and the term "personal computer" was used for the first time. Music was not rock and roll, but not boring either. "Telstar", "Go Away Little Girl", "Peppermint Twist" and "He's A Rebel" were catching some air waves.

The days of Camelot ruled 1963 for a while. Tab Cola was introduced along with zip codes. We heard the "I have a dream" speech and wanted to believe. We saw the first Smiley Face and Mike Myers was born. Things were beginning to rock with "Louie, Louie", "Wipe Out" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". The British Invasion had happened. And the end of the year saw the loss of our innocence.

Then all H-E-Double Hockey Sticks hit!!! 1964 saw big and fast changes. Beginning with the birth of Theresa C. in Galveston Texas. She hit the gulf coast causing all kinds of hurricanes in her path. She brought in the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, the game show Jeopardy, Shindig on television and the Ford Mustang. No one could have foreseen that one tiny baby would wrought changes and the beginning of the "young" generation. But I'm telling you...this one little spark plug baby resulted in "Pretty Woman", "Gloria", and "Baby Love"! She sparked the revolution!

Now I know you are wondering how one little baby could be responsible for all that changed after her birth, but believe me it's true. Would I lie to you? Look at how she continues to shake things up in the junking world. I for one am so thankful she was born. And I think this old hippie will go over now and tell her Happy Birthday! Care to join me? Well, just hop in the back seat and let's ride! No arguing over shotgun though!