Letter to the Editor

Your view: A reunion poem

Monday, October 23, 2006

Attached is a copy of the poem I wrote and presented as part of our 50th year Sikeston High School reunion. It is about some of my experiences and recollections about growing up in Sikeston

Don Nicholson

"WHEN YOU'RE GROWING UP" When you're growing up

You oughta go swimming

In a swimming pool

Or a ditch, or go fishing Like I did

When you're growing up

You ought to live in a neighborhood With lots of kids, and

Go roller skating on the sidewalk, Play ball in a vacant lot, Listen to the radio (Buster Brown,Sky King, Story Book Lady, The Cardinals) See cowboy double features on Saturday afternoons, Like I did

When you're growing up

You oughta live on a farm And raise pigs and chickens and strawberries, Pick cotton,

Learn to drive a tractor, Belong to the 4-H Club,

Play basketball in a barn, Like I did

When you're growing up

You oughta go to church,and Memorize the books of the bible (Genesis,Exodus,Leviticus,Numbers,Deuteronomy) Sing in the choir,

Try to figure out where God lives Like I did

When you're growing up,

You oughta have teachers who love and inspire you like Ms Stubblefield, Jim Powell, and Keith Collins, Play intermediate league baseball for a coach like Mr. Lancaster, Hold hands with girls, dance at the gym or the back room of the Bulldog Sell food at the football games Like I did

When you're growing up

You oughta grow up in a town with a park with a band shell, A friendly library,

Drug Stores with a pinball machine, A hardware store with a toy section, and A train station,

A town like Sikeston, Mo. Like we did

When you're growing older, You oughta remember what it was like When you were growing up, So you can count your blessings When you're growing old, Like I do