growing up--part-3-of-10

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Growing Up

Part-3-of-10

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Growing up anytime generally is always seen as ‘better’ then being an adult simply because when you're 7-years old, you don't worry about bills, politics, and other stuff that you learn about as you grow older… As an adult you realize that the world is pretty messed up… The 50's were no exception. There was the Korean war which came very close to escalating to WWIII, the threat of nuclear annihilation from the USSR, bomb shelters, McCarthyism which targeted artists, writers, and liberals, and the fact that if you were any race other then white you'd probably have a pretty crappy time, be segregated from the community, and have less rights in general…We all tend to view our childhood through a largely subjective lens but the world really was a totally different place back then. Grand Prairie was and still is comprised of many different neighborhoods… back in those day there was no such thing as a mall…all the business were located down town…and on Saturday everyone ‘dress up’ and went downtown to shop and be seen…actually back in those days you almost had to be wearing a tie to take out the garbage…everyone knew their neighbors and you could leave home without locking your door without worrying about being robbed…I grew up in the 50's and 60's and I too recall my childhood fondly, never mind that my parents were not well-off, we didn’t get a TV until I was in the 4-grade and it was a Silvertone (Sears) black and white with rabbit ears…Ike was in the White House, the Soviet Union was still a very real threat but I was unaware or unconcerned about such things. All I knew was that it was fun to play in outside with my brothers… We would jump on our bike with our balls gloves and be gone for hours. Even though we had our ball gloves, that didn’t necessarily mean that we’d play ball…it was like the string in our pocket…you never knew when you were going to run up on a creek and need the string to catch crawfish… or run up on a ball game and need your glove…while we were out we could have ended up sliding down a grassy hill on cardboard, our playing in the woods, or picking up empty soft drink bottles for the deposit…Life was literally much simpler because I was a child. I’m sure that its the same with everyone regardless of the era…

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To be continued...

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