A lifetime ago, I used to walk home from school to eat lunch and watch game shows

I logged countless episodes of "Card Sharks" growing up.

I am repeatedly reminded of the fact that I grew up in a very different time. I guess anyone above a certain age (say 30) can say the same.

When I was young, for example, game shows were a thing. All the networks had them, and they were particular staples of the daytime TV lineup.

I also attended a neighborhood elementary school where many of the kids walked home for lunch. I think there are still schools that allow this, but it felt far more prevalent when I was growing up.

It was many years before I understood how good I had it. When I arrived home, my mom would have lunch ready for me on a TV tray. It was usually a sandwich and canned fruit.

I would turn on the TV, find a game show to watch, and dig into Mom's delicious repast. The game shows varied over the years, though "Card Sharks" is the one that comes most readily to mind.

I would happily wolf down the food (that 10am elementary school snack never quite satisfied) while playing along with the contestants on TV. I knew exactly when I had to leave to make it back to school before the 1pm afternoon bell.

I was rarely, if ever, late, though I sat in our living room until the last possible minute. I wanted to fully enjoy my mid-day break at home before heading back to good old Mapledale Elementary.

In later years (5th and 6th grades), lunch times were more about playing football or baseball with my classmates. While I still came home to eat, those lunches were suddenly rushed affairs in which the goal was to eat as quickly as possible and dash back to school before the other guys had made it outside for recess.

None of my kids were ever able to come home from school for lunch, and the TV game show lineup of today pales in comparison to what it was in the 1970s and 80s. All of which is OK, but man, what I wouldn't do for a chance at one more baloney sandwich/fruit cocktail lunch and a rousing 30 minutes with host Jim Perry and those random, middle American contestants on "Card Sharks."

It was, as I often say, a simpler time.