Red Light, Green Light

Many things from my childhood remain trapped in my brain, perhaps buried under years of useless information retained for who knows what reason. However, i do have some memories that leap forward every now and then. One “goodie” is “Red Light, Green Light”. My mother is the third of seven living children, born to my granparents, who loved each other until they left the earth. Some of my aunts and uncles were teen agers when i was born, and i remember vividly, their senior pictures hanging on the dark paneling in my grandparents’ mobile home. i also remember their oak bunkbeds, separated and adorned with red, white and blue stripped linens. Some of the best times of my life were in that “trailer”, and in particular, playing outside with dozens of cousins and my aunts and uncles. Aunt Kat was famous for being outside with us, leading us on adventures, corraling us into all kinds of games. From Duck, Duck, Goose to Red Rover, Red Rover, we played and laughed for hours in the sun, in Nanny’s huge back yard. My favorite game was Red Light, Green Light. On one hand, it was sneaky. The caller stands away from the group, and calls out “Green Light” while facing away. At their discretion, they shout out “Red Light” and spin around to see the group. Whoever is moving when the caller turns, is “out”. The person to make it to the caller without getting “caught” wins, and gets a turn to be the caller. The thrill of getting closer and closer to the caller, while remaining in the game was a delight to this young girl. The smell of fresh cut grass, the heat of the sun beaming on tanned skin, the sounds of laughter from my cousins all added to the enjoyment of this game. Oh, and Aunt Kat’s voice. She would use a high pitch when calling the Green Light, but when it came time for the Red Light call, her voice would lower, and almost sound like a roar. As she spun around, she would either come up into a jump, or she would spin low, to a kneel. What a wonderful way to amplify the excitement of this game! It is memories like these that are the reason i wanted to move home after the birth of our daughter. The love of family is more than support when things get tough, it is also sharing in the simple joys of a game that needs no props, just people! i am truly blessed!

If you watch my post times, you will notice that there are four minutes left in this Wednesday. But i could not help myself, i love Lynette’s idea for Wednesday’s Walk Down Memory Lane, and i had to make sure this post got in today! If you would like to read the memories other writers had to share today, please click here.