Facebook Rarity

About a year and a half ago, I decided to join an Internet social community in order to get in touch with my past. After a couple of years spent living in a cave, I wanted to see how old friends and estranged family members were doing and decided to use Facebook.

Facebook doesn't serve much of a purpose but to help me keep in touch with my brothers (one lives outta town) and battle my bouts with boredom. It's always been entertaining to see what other people are doing and thinking and it got a lot more interesting when someone had the bright idea to start a particular page.

You know you grew up in Laredo if/when... is a cool group that started the memories stirring. People have started posting about things they remember from their years in good ol' Laredo. There are some stuff that I thought had only happened in my dreams and there's even evidence that the Play-Mor did exist. 

There are tons of awesome posts that I really wish I could share but they're way too many. You can check them out yourself; just sign in with ur FB account and search for the group. 

A couple of things that I remember when I was a youngster:

-Going to Perry's (used to be where the Family Dollar is now on Clark next to Super S) with the family. My dad loved that store cuz he could find cheap, awesome Halloween decorations. My grandmother would go shopping for material in order to make her aprons. My brothers and I were fascinated with the fish tanks they had at the back of the store, behind the toy section. We also used to rent our movies from there. When we'd head out of the store, my dad would make us run up and down some stairs that were located right next to the entrance. I still remember standing at the top of that 'hill' and catching a glimpse of all of Laredo. I felt like I was on top of the world.

-The playground at Leyendecker Elem was our personal amusement park. There were some massive swings that were in the shapes of an elephant, frog, pig, and I think there was even an ostrich. They were super fun to ride cuz they never really went in a straight back and forth path. They'd always end up rocking sideways and we'd end up going to war with whoever was next to us. All the while, my father, uncles, and cousins would be dueling it out on the basketball court. During breaks, we'd all gather around the school manguera and quench our thirst. We also used to play baseball games at the baseball diamond that existed on the campus grounds.

-We used to go and eat at Margarita's Restaurant (used to be on Santa Maria). When we'd get out of church, or any random morning, that was our stop. They had the best mariachis in the world. Everyone knew us there. It was, back then, what Danny's is now...except the food was better. It was a small place and it never expanded into a chain and so it never lost that homely feeling. It was sad to see it close.

-When I was in middle school, I remember being insanely jealous of kids that had the sacred triangle on their butts. The triangle symbol stood for so many things other than the brand name. It meant that they were too expensive for me to own and that I wasn't part of the 'cool' crowd. I never did end up owning a pair of those Guess jeans, hasta la fecha y ahora menos. It was/is too steep of a price to pay for popularity or fashion. I'm just fine with the Levi's I find at Wal-Mart.

The memories are endless. This random group on Facebook embraced a really fantastic idea. Some people have even added pics. Here are some...and no, none of them are mine.

I lived by what these things told me

easiest cable box to use...ever!



the logo that caused me such turmoil in school





the only thing that made me feel cool:  Caboodles box





a bit more buttons but the cable box was still easy to use





my mom referred to this H-E-B as Madonna's bra...



Give it a glance if you have a chance. It's well worth the time. I loved growing up in Laredo; it was fun and care-free. Now times are different in so many ways but at least we get the chance to reminisce. It's also nice to see that I'm not the only one who misses the past.

P.S. As with any other Laredo entity, there are gonna be some unruly individuals (so what else is new) but try to ignore them....there really are some nice posts on there.