1984...

XXIII Olympiad Los Angeles 1984 commemorative cup. Found at my local Salvation Army for 10 cents.

The XXIII Summer Olympic Games took place at Los Angeles California. The TV stations of that time showed daily specials about the great event. Ronald Reagan was the President of The Unites States of America. We could feel the festive mood on those special shows and on the newspapers. In the 80's America was synonym of prosperity and good life, the cool place where everybody wanted to be.

My friend Martha Alicia lived at LA at that time and we used to write to each other. I could only imagined how was the life at The US. I spent most of my days looking at the JcPenney catalogs my mom bought every season. My mom was a Modist and had a large clientele. The ladies that came to our house got inspired from the designs in the catalogs. Designs my mom sew with great precision. I always waited anxiously for the catalogs. I spent hours and hours immerse on those pages that sold the "perfect" life. It has been awhile since then. My mom isn't a Modist anymore, except for small jobs. She no longer buys the catalogs....it's me the one who does. Maybe I pretend to revive the memories every time I go through those pages and even when they are not what they used to be I have to admit that I still get the same feelings from my childhood.

The 80's left a mark on me. I lost my dear Grandmother in May of 1986, a very important figure in my life. I lived my childhood and teen years inspired by the 80's music and fashion. But I will never forget the 1984 Olympic Games. The moment when Ernesto Canto and Raul Gonzalez were first and second place on the 20 Km walk it just.... unforgettable.