I was 12 years old in ’76. From our Canadian home in Newfoundland at the time, this Aussie-Brit family went to THE most American place we could think of to celebrate the Bicentennial. We went to Disney World in Florida, woohoo! Can you imagine how over-the-top red, white, and blue the whole Main Street Electrical Parade was?! Baby, you have no idea. I also remember going to Cyprus Gardens, some kind of Monkey Jungle thingy, and a Parrot World or some such thing. Delightful memories on this end.
I’m re-watching “Hill Street Blues” on Disney+ right now (loved it when it first aired). It’s no “NYPD Blue”, but it still holds up, I think. Lots of now dated ’80s writing, of course, which is part of the fun for me.
My Barbie, not unlike many of my fellow warriors, did not survive the ‘70s. My big doll, which I called Bella, survived and thrived! Until my autistic son came along in the late ’80s. Her body now rests in my closet (the kid will not let me toss her) with one eye permanently looking sideways, chunks of hair missing, and an outfit no longer considered decent. Battered, bruised, wearing tattered clothes, but, by golly, she’s still here! Just like me ;-)
I think I got it! Writer Robert Graves died in December, 1985 (a couple of weeks before this was published), at the age of 90. He was best known as a WWI poet and also wrote “I Claudius”. The first portrait on this page looks a lot like him to me: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp01882/robert-ranke-graves
My parents were in a band back in the 60s and 70s. An only child, I remember many nights lying awake and worrying myself to death about what I’d do if Mum and Dad didn’t make it home (drunk drivers were my biggest concern, my parents didn’t drink when they were working). Terrifying when I think about it now.
I was 12 years old in ’76. From our Canadian home in Newfoundland at the time, this Aussie-Brit family went to THE most American place we could think of to celebrate the Bicentennial. We went to Disney World in Florida, woohoo! Can you imagine how over-the-top red, white, and blue the whole Main Street Electrical Parade was?! Baby, you have no idea. I also remember going to Cyprus Gardens, some kind of Monkey Jungle thingy, and a Parrot World or some such thing. Delightful memories on this end.