When I think back on my childhood, I smile! I think about our neighborhood and all my friends. You would know where we were by locating the house with all the bikes thrown over in the yard and all of us playing kickball, soccer, flag football or HORSE in the driveway. We might come home for lunch, but knew for sure it was time to come home when the porch lights came on! Someone would yell “CAR” to warn us to get out of the street if we were running around and were about to get run over. During the summer we would go to our local swimming pool and be there ALL day! Many times our moms would bring lunches and snacks up there to us. We loved that and thought it was nice, but I think they really just wanted to get caught up on the mom gossip and get their tan on!
So many things pop up in my memories, but one that ALWAYS puts a smile on my face is THE ICE CREAM TRUCK! I could be inside my house, but as soon as I heard that song from the ice cream truck I would stop what I was doing, find $1 and run out the door! We could be in the middle of dinner and we would hear the jingling of the bells and our parents would let us go chase it down (I think dad wanted dessert)! It was IMPORTANT!
Finding the truck was the best part! We had to figure out what street it was on and if we could run through the houses and alleys or if it would be on the end of our street soon. Once located, we would find all our friends waiting in line! EVERYONE had smiles on their faces - how could you not- IT WAS ICE CREAM!
The next big challenge was to decide what to get. Would it be the push up? The red, white and blue bomb known as the “firecracker”? The fudgsicle? The rock hard rainbow snow cone? The king cone or the Choco Taco? SO MANY OPTIONS!!!!!
Oh how I wish life was that simple now! I guess as an adult I still get the adrenaline rush when I see the Amazon truck pull up to my house, however I am so very thankful I won’t have to chase it down. These days that would not be as fun and if I caught it, there would not be a smile on my face - I’d be in search of oxygen!
I think it’s funny how we look back at our lives at the simple memories that brought us so much joy. As we get older, sometimes life happens and we tend to let the joy fade? Why is that? Let’s stop and think about simple daily things that make us smile. Our morning coffee! Seeing the same people at our local “corner” store! The sweet neighbors that you see take a walk at the same time everyday! My husband on his riding lawn mower waving at everyone! There are SO many things that can bring us happiness and joy each day just like the ice cream truck did when we were kids! It’s our job to find them!
Before you go to bed tonight, reflect on your day and the things that made you smile. Make this a habit! Better yet, create a list and try to find something new each day that brings joy and happiness to your life - look for your ice cream truck!