TV's and Cardboard Boxes

Dear Ethan:

I hear you like to play in cardboard boxes at home with your friends.  The bigger the box the better.  I also know that you like to watch TV, but when I was a kid there were no TV's.  We just listened to the radio or played in the neighborhood.

One day after I had just finished my paper route in the neighborhood,  I walked past the Perry house, and there was something different going on.  There was a soft blue light coming out of a window.  The next day there was strange long rod on the top of the roof with lots of other rods sticking out.

A couple of days later,  Bush Dodd, our good friend across the street,  started carrying a lot of old tools and boards of wood into the Perry house.  It looked like Bush was remodeling the house. and he was.

The kids on the block were wondering what was going on, including me.  Even some of grown ups were starting to take notice of what was going on and got curious and started to poke around.  Some of the moms were getting nervous and took kids indoors and to bed, including me.  It went on for a couple of days.

Then one day Mr. Perry invited us all to come in for a surprise.  When we all came in we were in what looked like a little movie theater with a big radio and a movie going on.  We had never seen  such a thing.  Mr. Perry explained that it was a television, like a movie in your own home. The picture was in black and white, and we thought it was something wonderful.

A couple of years went by and my dad finally bought our own TV set.  It came in a big cardboard box, and  my best friend, Bill and I played in that box until it finally broke completely down.

You know what, Ethan? I love big old boxes.  When we get together again, let's get a big old cardboard box and play.

 My best game is to make a fort!  The bigger the better.

Love you, Grandpa