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Cute Poem- Can You Relate? "The Land That Made Me Me"

In summary, the conversation reflects on a simpler and more innocent time in the past, filled with nostalgia and memories of popular culture icons and events that shaped the era. The speaker also expresses a sense of longing for those times and a concern for the current state of the world.
Addie4TLC
Silver Member
930
It's a little long... but worth it. Promise. :)

Long ago and far away,
In a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan,
Or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents,
And they were you and me,
Long ago and far away
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Oh, there was truth and goodness
In that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges,
And Peyton Place was porn.
For Ike was in the White House,
And Hoss was on TV,
And God was in His heaven
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We longed for love and romance,
And waited for the prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz,
And no one's seen him since.
We danced to "Little Darlin'",
And Sang to "Stagger Lee"
And cried for Buddy Holly
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Only girls wore earrings then,
And three was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts,
Except for Jean McKinney.
And only in our wildest dreams
Did we expect to see
A boy named George, with Lipstick
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon,
Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie,
They never made it twice.
We didn't have a Star Trek Five,
Or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rockey-Rambo Twenty
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold,
And Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat
Whose co-star was a chimp.
We had a Mr.Wizard,
But not a Mr.T,
And Oprah couldn't talk, yet
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We had our share of heroes,
We never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin ,
Or Marilyn Monroe
For youth was still eternal,
And life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever,
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We'd never seen the rock band
That was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson ,
And Zeppelins weren't Led.
And Beatles lived in gardens then,
And Monkees in a tree,
Madonna was a virgin
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves,
Or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed,
But they weren't grown in jars.
And pumping iron got wrinkles out,
And "gay" meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets
To talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at
The bottom of the bag.
And hardware was a box of nails,
And bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction
In the Land That Made Me Me.

Buicks came with portholes,
And side show came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough
To cover both your cheeks.
And Coke came just in bottles,
And skirts came to the knee,
And Castro came to power
In the Land That Made Me Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride,
We had no Hill Street Blues,
We all wore superstructure bras
Designed by Howard Hughes.
We had no patterned pantyhose
Or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms
In the Land That Made Me Me.

There were no golden arches,
No Perriers to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda,
And cats were not called Bill.
And middle-aged was thirty-five
And old was forty-three,
And ancient was our parents
In the Land That Made Me Me.

But all things have a season,
Or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline
We swear by Retin-A.
And they send us invitations
To join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby,
From the Land That Made Me Me.

So now we face a brave new world
In slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using
Smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children's children
Of the way it used to be,
Long ago, and far away
In the Land That Made Me Me.
-writer Unknown

I can relate to most of this... miss some of that stuff!
 
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Come on... it's worth the read.... Brings back memories. Guess I'm feeling nostalgic. :)
 
Addie - I did just read it - had to wait until I had a few minutes - it is very nostalgic....brings back a more innocent time - like when we could hop on our bikes and ride to the park, and mom didn't have to worry about what might happen to us - or who might try to approach us. When we knew that our friends moms could discipline us too, and that if we did anything out of line, we'd get in trouble with her, and then again with mom! Same thing went for teachers!
 
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AAAHHHHH That's what I'm talking about!!! Don't you wish your kids could experience that??!! Times where kids dare not talk back or EVEN give dirty looks. When a look from your parents was all it took to straighten you out. These days parents practically hypnotize kids with their stares and NOTHING hapens.
 
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Oh, oh, know what I miss too? The Big Sticks for 15 cents! Red tongue for sure!
 
I miss going to the corner store and getting penny candy.

I about DIED when I read about Peyton Place.
Our infirmary at camp is named Peyton's Place. It is named after a kid that used to come to camp with his family and died of a staph infection a few years back. The church group raised money, came up and built it and named it Peyton's Place after him. His name was Peyton and he LOVED Peyton Manning.
 
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Addie4TLC said:
AAAHHHHH That's what I'm talking about!!! Don't you wish your kids could experience that??!! Times where kids dare not talk back or EVEN give dirty looks. When a look from your parents was all it took to straighten you out. These days parents practically hypnotize kids with their stares and NOTHING hapens.

When we started school, Dad would march you to the principal's office and show you the paddle mounted on the wall and tell the principal in front of you...don't call me until you've spanked them good...then he'd turn to us and say and when I get a call you'll get another spanking at home.

Needless to say we never even thought of acting up!
 
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janetupnorth said:
I miss going to the corner store and getting penny candy.

I about DIED when I read about Peyton Place.
Our infirmary at camp is named Peyton's Place. It is named after a kid that used to come to camp with his family and died of a staff infection a few years back. The church group raised money, came up and built it and named it Peyton's Place after him. His name was Peyton and he LOVED Peyton Manning.
Oh!! What a sad story... :cry: Some of the references I'm not too familiar with but that one put a sad spin on it. There is nothing sadder that losing a child.
 
Here is the website from when he was ill...there are some great things there....

http://getwellpayton.com/updates.asp
 
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janetupnorth said:
When we started school, Dad would march you to the principal's office and show you the paddle mounted on the wall and tell the principal in front of you...don't call me until you've spanked them good...then he'd turn to us and say and when I get a call you'll get another spanking at home.

Needless to say we never even thought of acting up!

Whoa! I thought my dad was strict!!! It does sound very effective though! :eek:

In Jr. High there was a red haired bully who had intimidating girlfriends that were in a gang. Everyone was afraid not so much of her but of her friends. Well one day she picked on me and said she was going to beat me up after school. What she didn't know is that a had the support of the Football team! :) See she would pick fights but once she was face to face with someone her "friends" would join in. Anyway... I fought her after school because I was sick and tired of her terrorizing everyone. But having no experience fighting I got my butt kicked mighty bad (but at least my friends kept the other girls for joining in- else I may not be telling the story.) My lip was huge, I had lumps in my head... I was a MESS. When I got home there was no sympathy for me. My counselor explained to my dad that the other girl was a troublemaker and I was a good student. He decided to suspend the girl and ban her from jr. prom and all activities. My dad said "I demand that you give my daughter the same punishment." Gee thanks DAD!!! :grumpy:

The kicker was that as the oldest they were stricter (??) on me than my siblings, they got away with murder later on!!! NOT FAIR!! My sister is 8 years younger and my brother is 14 years younger.
 
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janetupnorth said:
Here is the website from when he was ill...there are some great things there....

http://getwellpayton.com

How heartbreaking! That last post... But you can see that their faith brought them some comfort even in this devastating time.
 
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Addie4TLC said:
How heartbreaking! That last post... But you can see that their faith brought them some comfort even in this devastating time.

It makes you cry to read the story all the way through - they are a great family...the brothers look SOOO much like Payton!

The summer before he got sick, I was out on the lake when Todd was in a canoe with Payton - it was the most precious time to hear their father/son talk and Todd using things in nature to share with his son. It was an honor to be the only other one out on that part of the lake hearing them. Their faith was and still is real and strong.


Edited to correct my spelling - I always forget if it is and E or A in his name! LOL!
 
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janetupnorth said:
It makes you cry to read the story all the way through - they are a great family...the brothers look SOOO much like Payton!

The summer before he got sick, I was out on the lake when Todd was in a canoe with Payton - it was the most precious time to hear their father/son talk and Todd using things in nature to share with his son. It was an honor to be the only other one out on that part of the lake hearing them. Their faith was and still is real and strong.


Edited to correct my spelling - I always forget if it is and E or A in his name! LOL!

It is amazing how something like this can touch outhers. My dad passed away that same year 2001, before that I had no clue what to say or do around people who had lost loved ones. The following year one of my close friends los one of her 6 year old twins. Out of nowhere!! Her little girl had a stomach ache and threw up, she gave her medicine for that. At night she heard a thump coming from the bathroom, she was having difficulty breathing. They called 911. She says the last thing she remembers is the look of fear on her daughters face as they were taking her. She was told later that she was DOA. I spent a lot of time with her comforting her with bible passages similar to the ones posted on Paytons' page. We cried together and got through it together. I think things like this make you stronger and more compassionate.
 
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Can anyone think of their own? From that land that MADE YOU YOU?

"We'd never seen the rock band
That was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson ,
And Zeppelins weren't Led.
And Beatles lived in gardens then,
And Monkees in a tree,
Madonna was a virgin" (HUH???)

This is my era I guess... Give me this any day instead of the music that's popular today! :) My parents couldn't stand my early 70's late 80's music. Guess I'm just getting to old to understand today's noise.
 
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Bump... Miss some of the cartoons and shows too. Jetsons, He-Man, Sheera, Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner... Captain Cave maaaaan! Underdog!!

They used to run the little Rascals all the time too, love that Spanky in the baby episodes!! :) HR pufnstuff, Land of the Lost, Incredible Hulk, Amreican Bandstand, I dream of Jeanie, Bewitched even with the Darin.
 

What is "The Land That Made Me Me"?

"The Land That Made Me Me" is a cute poem that celebrates the unique qualities and characteristics of a person, shaped by the land they were born and raised in.

Who wrote "The Land That Made Me Me"?

"The Land That Made Me Me" was written by the late American poet and humorist, Ogden Nash.

Can I use "The Land That Made Me Me" in my Pampered Chef business?

While we cannot give legal advice, we recommend obtaining permission from the copyright holder before using "The Land That Made Me Me" for your business purposes.

Is "The Land That Made Me Me" available for purchase on Pampered Chef?

No, "The Land That Made Me Me" is not available for purchase on Pampered Chef. It is a copyrighted poem and must be purchased from the copyright holder or used with permission.

Can I share "The Land That Made Me Me" on social media?

As long as you give proper credit to the author, Ogden Nash, and do not use it for commercial purposes, you can share "The Land That Made Me Me" on social media.

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