I was in my 20's and early 30's. I worked at an Insurance Co and best job I ever had. I was dating this guy and we were going to get married, love of my life and then he died sundenly, worst day of my life, I lived with a girl and her 2 kids and it was good and bad and I bought my condominium. I never had any hair styles or wore any clothes from the 80's.

I lived through the 80's, when it started I was three weeks away from turning 9 and in third grade and it ended after I graduated high school.

What I remember:
The Cabbage Patch Craze: I was aging out of dolls but wanted one as did my friends. My parents told me that I would have to get one once the craze died because that would tell if I really wanted one or just because everyone else. So a year later I graduated junior high and with some of my graduation money ordered a doll through Sears. They were still hard to find but you could order them. My mom called and they asked if you wanted a boy or a girl, race and things like haircolor. I decided to get a girl with dark hair and got one with a ponytail. A few months later my mom happened to be shopping for a birthday gift for me and saw a blonde haired girl so she bought her. I still have them and when my grandma died I inherited hers as well.

Video games: Back in 1982 my family got an Atari for Christmas and played it often. It was a special thing because before then we had Pong but most of the time went to the video arcades. Now we could play at home (though me and my brother still went to the video arcade). A few years later we got Nintendo.

Cable: We got cable a bit later than our neighbors, in 1984 and it opened up our viewing. I could finally watch MTV at home! I would surf the stations and find shows I never knew existed (many were one season wonders). We thought it was cool we got 20-30 additional channels. Now we have hundreds and would think it was funny.

Music: Going with MTV to some extent but before we got MTV we would go visit people who had cable and me and the kids would watch MTV. I was introduced to New Wave. I started liking many bands who weren't played on the radio and others who were but still great. I think the 80's had great music.

Broadcast Television: While cable opened up our options, network television had many good shows. It seemed like everyday there was a decent sitcom. Cable at this point didn't really show many series so the best shows were on network. I seemed to mostly watch ABC and NBC until Fox came in.

Movies: This was the decade of the teen movie. John Hughes produced movies about teens in the Chicago suburbs during the 80's and this related to me. I would go to the dollar show and see all of the movies. Let's not forget VHS came in so I could rent movies and buy some if they were cheap (movies were still expensive sometimes).

The mall: I miss the mall lifestyle. I would go with my friends to the mall to shop, or eat lunch or see a movie or just walk around. Kids today miss this interaction because instead they are texting. We'd go to buy cassettes or meet guys or just to shop for school clothes. Back then the economy was much better and there was more money generally. Plus there weren't as many superstores or online so if you wanted something you often had to go to a certain shop.

I tell kids today about life then and they are surprised. They don't know a world without social networking or buying online or texting.

It was a great time! I remember passing notes in class asking a question, then the person you sent it to had to circle yes or no to the question.

I also remember getting cable for the first time. First video I watched on MTV was Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go!

People actually laid out in the sun in their front yards to get a tan.