In A Blink Of An Eye

Remembering a time of long ago.

It was the fall of `59 and school had already started. The Chicago White Sox had just lost the World Series to those hated Dodgers and yet I found a certain joy in returning to school from a long summer vacation. A summer filled with little league ball, and of course our families July vacation on the shores of Lake Geneva. How fortunate I was to have those wonderful experiences to still remember more than a half century later.

 

Those childhood friends of my younger days where freckled faced Rita, and her sister Kate along with Bruce, Tom, Andy and I that July still brings a warm glow. Memories were made that summer. Memories that have stood the test of time. A time of innocence where our youth was filled with glorious carefree days. But, as I returned to school in the fall of `59 more friendships were forged. Pat Sheldon, of course Jackie and Bart, school chums as we were. As I think about it now Roosevelt School each class room we were all assigned individual desks that stayed with us through-out the year. You know those old wooden desks were each one had an ink well in the top right corner. Penmanship was required by all. I can remember going to Wallgreens and buying a fountain ink pen with money I saved form my allowance. Oh! those memories so vividly embedded in my mind. 

 

When I look back and think of the times of my youth and try to construct a picture portraying the youth of today experiencing what it was like in a different era I have my doubts that today's youth would appreciate the simplified existence that was our reality those many years ago. Many a time we would like to turn the clock back especially in light of what the world is like today. But, sadly time keeps marching on. In memories one has the ability to rekindle that glow with fond recollection of those precious moments.  In that year of `59, a year of innocence will forever be a treasured time for the friendships that were made and the experiences I had.  

 

It was two years latter those friendships that were made two years before remained as one would like to say forever friends. In retrospect, the world as I knew it was starting to change. When we all heard JFK speak when he was sworn in as our President  "Let the word go forth from this day forward that the torch has been passed from one generation to the next" The eloquence of that opening is now forever entrenched in my mind. A new beginning! An exuberance not felt by a nation since the end of World War II erupted on the Capital steps that January of '61. As the years have gone by since that eventful day much has changed. So much so in fact, the world I knew back then really is no more. Gone, in a blink of an eye. 

 

It was only two years latter when on that fateful day of November 22,1963 the hope and innocence of my generation ceased to exist. It was as though the whole world turned dark when an act of violent terror struck down our President. For many, that day marked a turning point in the way our society was to evolve. Sadly though the evolution of our society has morphed into a somber realization that the world would never return to the innocence of that carefree summer of `59.   

Gone in a blink of an eye is the overwhelming patriotism displayed in every school yard across America is the reality we face today. Gone, is playing professional sports for the love of the game. Gone are the millions of middle class wage jobs. Gone, is the family unit where a mother and a father nurture and instill moral virtue in their children. Gone, is the respect we all had for our teachers and our elders. Gone to are the days when one could eat real wholesome foods with-out all the additives and preservatives. These quintessential traits that embodied an era have all been cased aside in the name of progression. Some progression!

 

Lately now, after reflecting on all the changes that have rocked our society I am beginning to think like my father. Strange after all these years that I too would reminisce about a time long since past. Could it be with many fine memories of those bygone days and with the harsh reality facing us today it would be so refreshing to return even just for a short while to that period in time when my world seemed to stand still. Today, the harshness of our surroundings make the days fly by so swiftly now while so many of us work too hard just to get by. Trying to find work or working and laboring just eking out an existence is the reality so many face now. Trying to pay those bills that are constantly increasing in amounts and frequency is an arduous task that many seem insurmountable. Like so many today I too am no longer able to enjoy the golf cart reality that one experienced a half century ago. The constant plight of most of my generation now is all consumed with existing and not living. When it takes two jobs and 16 hours a day to try to  almost make ends meet leaves really no time for practically anything else. 

What went wrong? My parents were able to live life while I on the other hand can only exist. Both my parents worked but there lives intermixed with everyday pleasures as well as bringing up two children. They had the availability to take time out of every day to as I would but it, to smell the roses. Gone in a blink of an eye are the means, mainly financial resources that  make it possible to have the availability to take time for the family unit. Of course the inventions of today's modern world were not in place 50 years ago but maybe that was the best thing because without these convinces of today like blackberry's and computers I would not have such fond memories where my parents had the means and took the time to interact with us. Technology is only partly to blame for the intrusion upon the family. The other is business and governmental policies of the past forty five years. They  have undermined the sanctity of the family unit. Today many children have become too self absorbed to interact with their parents and the parents are too consumed with work just to be able to put food on the table. Today's disposable incomes are definitely not sufficient to take care of the rising cost of living. Gone in a blink of an eye are those disposable incomes my parents of my generation had.

 

In sharp contrast today's industries have all assimilated the many technologies developed into their working environment. The individual worker in the US has become a disposable commodity where years ago the worker was an vital internal component to the businesses overall success. Today's reality is all about generating the most profit in the shortest amount of time.  Before all these technological innovations appeared business were pretty much run at a slower pace. Gone now in a blink of an eye are quality, pride, reliability, durability and trust that were the greatest strengths of our economic structure. Gone in a blink of an eye is the business philosophy now replaced with inflation, technology, more profit at any cost, and an apathetic attitude toward others.

 

Will we ever return to a semblance to that era where there is a balance in our society? I often wonder now. But one thing is certain time does march on. Change is inevitable and yet mankind has to assimilate the characteristics of a period that highlighted the American experience that embodied my generation and that of my parents. Maybe then fond memories will be made for more generations to cherish.