Reading all these posts sure brought back memories of things I had forgotten. Yep, did the potholders, the embroidery, sewed all my clothes...still have the entire set of Nancy Drew books! My siblings and I used to play "fort" in the small space between the houses - lugging back boxes from the appliance store on the corner to make the buildings. I also played "teacher" in the back patio. Had a big chalkboard and I'd arrange the patio furniture into a school room and "teach" my imaginary students. My mother still kids me about that to this day!

And I wonder how much my old stamp and coin collection is worth now???

Pen Pals, that's another thing I forgot about. YOu mentioned Viet NAm. DId any of your wear those POW bracelets? I think mine is still in the attic.

Wow, I did Dotsie, but I have no clue as to whatever became of mine!

I spent most of my childhood with my nose in a book. I can rememeber being quite young (around 3 or so) and I would read to my Granny. She used to tell everyone, "isn't that sweet? she memorized that book." Dang it, I was reading and no one believed it apparently. When I was in first grade our teacher took us to the library and showed us the "picture books" and "easy readers." I got the impression from that visit that those were the ONLY books that a first grader was "allowed" to read...I always checked out the limit (we could take 7 at a time) and I always tried to make them last. I would resist reading them as long as possible, because I knew that once I began they would too soon be over. I never lasted more than a day or two and it was a whole week until the next library day! Imagine my delight when one day on a whim I picked up a "chapter book" and the librarian assured me that I could check out ANY book in the school library! Woo hoo, I was on my way and I took pains to try and check out one really long book each time so that my classmates would be jealous (LOL) Somehow now that I look back, they probably cared less. My favorite books were the Box Car Children series, The OZ series, Little Women and any kind of mystery. For my 45th birthday, my Aunt Sharon searched through all the Half-Price Bookstores in Austin and presented me with a complete set of the Box Car Children. It was one of those perfect gifts ever.