Sunday mornings

 It is Sunday morning now and as I sit here sipping my coffee, my mind has taken me back to 401 Brookgreen Drive and the Sunday mornings I spent growing up there. Church was always a must on Sunday mornings unless one was sick. We would be in the car by 9:30 ready for the 10:00 Sunday school to begin.  When I was younger, Mom would brew a large urn of coffee for her Sunday school class, and it was always my job to keep it stable in the car ride to church.  I'm happy to say that I never spilled the coffee!

The Sunday paper was always an important part of our ritual.  Of course, Dad was always up before the sun, and he'd usually have most of the paper read by the time we got up. After reading the paper, he focused on the crossword puzzles until it was time to dress for church.  The Sunday paper was always exciting as a kid because it meant two things:  the funny papers and the weekly tv guide. Back in those days, and it feels strange to say that but oh well, the funny papers were huge.  It was a 6 to 8 page, large, in color, insert that we poured over.  Ziggy, Garfield, Peanuts, For Better or Worse, Hagar the Horrible, Family Circus, Dennis the Menace.  I loved them all. And the tv guide!!  Kids today just do not understand the planning to took to schedule one's tv viewing.  You had to really pick and choose, especially in the days before VCRs, not that kids today know what those are either haha! It was some serious stuff!

There was rarely any tv on Sunday mornings. The only instance I remember is when Mom let us watch Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas on HBO.  That was the first time I ever saw that, so it is permanently burned into my memory.  Now, if I'd spent Saturday night at Grandmother's, she would let me watch tv before getting ready for church.  Jem and Kids, Incorporated!  Loved them both. Then, of course, we had to actually get dressed for church.  This was back in the day that you didn't wear anything casual to church.  Sometimes I miss that, but I suppose people need to be comfortable these days. From  6th grade on, I wore a tie every Sunday.  I didn't hate wearing them, I just was (and still am) no good at tying them!

Sunday mornings were full of love in our house. Our house was full of love every day of the week, but today I am simply remembering this one specific time of the week.