1980s

It was the best of times, it was the best of times. It was the age of coming of age, it was both light and dark and all shades in between. It was the spring of love, it was the winter of pain. Everything lay before us, the road ahead was bright.

It was college. It was the Army.

It was marriage.

It was first forays into sexual intercourse and everyone was awash in testosterone or estrogen.

It was the era of arena rock which found its fertile roots in the decade before. It was the era of rock and roll gods, both foreign and domestic. The bands were big, the sounds were bigger, and so was the hair.

It was the time of independence, the shaking off of parental shackles. It was freedom and energy and desire to move wherever looked best to young bright eyes that hadn't yet been dimmed by age.

It was the decade of first car - four wheels that carried us singing along with the roads we drove and the radio songs blasting through just-installed speakers.

It was trying out new things, new people, new experiences, new places and deciding which were worth keeping.

It was the Cold War and a president who did indeed understand that Communism had formed evil empires around the world. It was a nuclear standoff.

It was the end of M*A*S*H with its worn-out commentary on how bad war is and everyone made it home. Everyone except Henry.

It was Family Ties and the introduction of Michael J. Fox who would go on to become a time traveler while rocking Chuck Berry. It was the Cars asking who was going to drive you home.

It was about rain that was purple, love that was tainted, and it seemed like everyone was livin' on a prayer.

It was the era of Lee Iacocca, the revival of Chrysler and the birth of the minivan. It was also the resurgence of muscle cars which had been quashed by the Clean Air Act of 1970.

It was the introduction of home computing and look at what that has since become.

It was the best of times and slowly but surely the icons of that era are all being erased.