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Kill Devil Hills, NC, United States
Trying to connect my present with the past in order to fly through the future.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Now vs Then

Twenty years ago when I was a kid....Thirty years ago when I was a... Thirty-five years ago when I was growing up on 'The Lane' my sister (I guess I should say sisters, but Keeks was always in a different school from us) would rush home. We did not rush home to play on our computer or game system. We rushed home to play with the kids on the block.

There was always a kid or three to hang out with on the cul-de-sac. Baseball/softball, Red Light, Green Light, Jump Rope, Skate and Bike Races, Tag, Swinging Statues, oh, I could go on forever. Each game I mention reminds me of another.

I don't have kids so I can't really pass along these games the way they were passed on to me and my sisters. Families are so spread out so passing games and traditions aren't passed along that way much. As I drive around nearby neighborhoods on Saturdays, I don't often see packs of kids playing the way we played. The kids I see playing from my porch only seem to be on edge, nervous and wily. Like they are about to be caught doing something that they oughtn't to be doing.

If you ever dare ask what they are doing, you know the response they just gave was a lie. And this lie just so easily slid off their tongues. It's as if telling a lie is easier than telling the truth. How is it that cheating and lying became the norm and expected? Will we ever go back to the good ol' days of truth, honesty and empathy? I hope so. The world I live in now makes me want to have Alzheimer's Disease.

1 comment:

  1. This was such a nice memory. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get out in our parking lot and grab some of those (doing nothing but looking like trouble) kids and teaching them some of those games..... Never know, till we try! Keep up the good writing!

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