I spent every recess from 4-6 grade where there was enough sunshine playing jump rope with the girls in my grade. I am still sort of a freakishly good jump roper. Last year I walked into a church activity and there were several teenage girls trying to teach the little girls how to jump rope. They were trying to figure out how to double dutch. It was like I had been called by a higher power to be there.
In the 4th grade the people from Jump Rope For Life came to my school. Their arrival was preceded by a flier that went home with us telling us that plastic neon jump ropes would be on sale for $3.50 the next day. My heart soared. I went home that night and spent hours counting the coins from my piggy bank (there was plenty in there. I've always been a penny pincher), making piles of twenty-five-cents; 1 quarter or 2 nickels and a dime (those of you math majors will realize that my calculations were a little off) and then counting the 14 little piles over and over and over again. I've also always been very cautious so I packed an extra dollar just in case (which was a lucky thing as my knowledge of how many nickles and dimes are in a quarter was amiss). The next day I went home with a neon purple jump rope just as pleased as punch.
And, in the McDonalds' parking lot that memory came so clear to me...22 years later and I still remember counting and counting change and just loving that jump rope.
Yet, last night as the hubbs and I were walking into the grocery store we said, "let's not forget to get windshield wiper fluid." And we still left the store without it.
How is it that I have room in my memory for every jump rope song I've ever heard but windshield wiper fluid just doesn't fit?
Lovely....I'm a lot older than you and I still remember them as well...."Down by the river, down by the sea, Johnny broke a bottle and blamed it on me...." This makes me want to go buy a jump rope.
ReplyDelete