There was no air conditioning in my childhood home. Back in those days hardly anyone had A/C. But one day in 1974 when the temperatures reached the upper 90s for five days in a row, my father brought home a small window air conditioning unit for the master bedroom.
After he wrestled with it and cursed it, he finally got it in the window with only a slight chance of it falling two stories below onto our swing set.As soon as he turned it on, my five siblings and I were like puppies wrestling around a food bowl to get our faces right into the blast of cold air pouring out. It was like an angel from Heaven had landed on earth just then to wipe the sweat from our brows.
That night at bedtime, me, my siblings and - remarkably - even the dog were allowed to sleep on the floor of mom and dad’s bedroom. We were wild with excitement.
Each of us claimed a spot, threw down a blanket and pillow, got comfortable then suddenly realized our personal set up would be better with an Archie comic book or MAD magazine or snack or teddy bear or extra pillow or lighter blanket. For 45 minutes six children ran in and out of the room fetching forgotten items with the dog barking and chasing after us.
This was the origin of the refrain we would hear so often over the years from our father, “Close the damn door - you’re letting all the cold air out of the room!” It was chaos until finally the bedroom door stayed closed. We settled down and one by one drifted off to the mesmerizing hum and cool caress of the magical AC window unit.
