#52 Stories: The Harlem Globe Trotters
My letter written to my Dad, January 1978
Click to enlarge!
I have very happy memories of going to see The Harlem Globe Trotters as a girl. I do not remember WHY I wanted to see them, but I do remember being in some kind of a large gym on bleacher style seats with my whole family as we watched hilariously funny basketball players, doing tricks and all kinds of silly antics. Not long ago I saw some kind of advertisement for, you guessed it ... The Harlem Globe Trotters in Spokane! I hopped on my computer and purchased 5 tickets. I wanted my kids to experience what I had experienced. It's the first time that I remember laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. Not long after purchasing the tickets, I was downstairs looking through my "stuff that matters" box, which is just a big Rubbermaid bin with hanging file folders—a memorabilia file—I was actually looking for my "Girl with the Coolest Hair" certificate that I shared in this post and I came across the letter pictured here. CRAZY right?! I'm not sure I remember writing this letter, but I'm SO happy I found it. I do remember writing my Dad whenever I really wanted something. I also remember sweetening whatever deal I was proposing with homemade pies or cookies.
My note exactly as it is written, reads:
Dear whom it may concern, (Dad)
Did you know that this Saturday night, you! Yes you can see the greatest basketball game on earth. That's right it's the Harlem Globe Trotters funny, amusing entertainment and you can get a family of five in for just $13.00 and that's the second best seats remember that's this Saturday night January 28, 1978 Be There!
Sincerely,
Stacy
p.s. I did make you good cupcakes!
This is the Globetrotters I remember!
So, in 1978 I was 12 years old and obviously did not yet have a grasp of punctuation, but I LOVE that I have this sample of my handwriting. I LOVE that I have proof that family entertainment is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE today. I paid $52.50 per ticket.
I just spent roughly 45 minutes watching old HGT videos on YouTube. When this cartoon clip popped up a whole flood of memories came rushing in—Saturday morning cartoons, cold cereal, shag carpet, my mom going to work. She worked for my Dad at his veterinary clinic for a few years, but only Saturday mornings. I totally remember watching the Globetrotters cartoon. I remember there was always a "lesson" to be learned at the end of the show. Perhaps this is why I was so excited to see them in real life?!
I'll tell you what I'm learning as I recall and document these 52 Stories: Stories beget stories! Almost as soon as you begin a serious effort to recall life stories in detail, there are more details to write and those details are invariably connected to other stories that are begging to be told.
This is a good thing! It reminds of Lamb Chop and Charley Horse singing "This is the song that never ends!" song, only you would replace the word song with STORY ...
