(Op-ed by Peter Children)
Life is generational; each generation has it’s own characteristics that define it’s time in the course of history. Unless you are my age or close to it, it would be difficult to look far enough back to be able to recognize the changing landscape that time has wrought.
That terrain we speak of is not just some beautiful vista, unless of course you wore blinders and were kept in a locked room protected from the outside world. In truth the road is pock-marked, filled with the struggles of a life lived, of a nation trying to face reality, trying to mature, and at the same time look in the mirror at itself individually to seek honesty, the truth….as it pertains to each of us, a truth we do not share with anyone else.
In the morning sunlight, before the day gets under way, have you ever asked yourself if on this day you really need to use drugs, do you really need to buy a 12-pack of beer, like you normally do each and everyday. Can you give up tobacco just for this one day? Is there someone you can help today or do you need help yourself? Communities are a conglomeration of individuals such as ourselves; if we can face issues that we feel effect us individually and we do something to improve our own lot in life, then everyone wins….you and the community we all live in together. We are all a part of the landscape of life, we’re all riding that train together, and what we do as individuals has a profound effect on everyone else.
The conclusion of life arrives much sooner than you can imagine, the mirror and the camera are the first to revel the truth to us,. You see your hair start to change color and fall out, you skin starts to lose it’s elasticity, you begin to shrink and all of a sudden your trousers are too long. If you wear dresses you might have to take the hem up. Around this point, time becomes your most precious commodity, more precious than sliver or gold.
On February 13, 1963 I stopped smoking; there were no patches, or gum or pills to alleviate the urge, you just hung on for dear life and tried your best. The day I quit I had a package of cigarettes about half full on my desk along with about seven packs still in the carton. A carton of Old Gold’s which was the brand I smoked cost about $3.00 a carton then. I did not finish the pack or any of the others in the carton, I just threw them all in the trash and from that day until today, I never used tobacco again. If I had not succeeded I’d be under the trees at Elmwood by this time where most of my life long friends now reside. Personal resolve is a major ingredient in leading a productive life, without it any chance of succeeding is going to be exceedingly difficult.
I spent my entire life in this community, I have been in business for myself since 1953; operated bars and restaurants, sold aluminum siding, been a member of the Jeweler’s Board of Trade for over 35 years; I sell diamonds and also manufacture jewelery in China…where I have visited seventeen times, and will go there again. I do business coast to coast in America. I have often traveled Europe from top to bottom and have traveled to Brazil as well to attend leather shows in San Paulo. My life has been full, with some regret, but mostly without.
But I live here in this town, and I see things I do not like or agree with, and with that said there are also many wonderful aspects of this community; the people living here are good, hard working, most carry inbred predjucies that are no fault of their own, but as adults it’s time to shed those attributes learned at the kitchen table during diner as your father pontificated about people of other color and religions that were not his own….hopefully by now you have realized how wrong he was.
I recently read one of the blogs written by someone who calls themself Observer; from the slant of it all, it appears the Observer is female and from what I was able to glean by what she wrote and by the looks of it, she has had a rough life growing up. I can only hope all of that is behind her now. But I also know scars like that never completely heal. My heart goes out to her….no one is privy to what goes on behind closed doors. When night falls and the house falls dark, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are safe because you are in your own home. I wish she’d have called the police….I have a feeling they would have believed her. I hope the Observer is finally safe.
If you or someone you know is being abused or mistreated in a manner you feel inappropriate, then call the authorities and report it immediately. Perhaps you may want to first confide in a close friend to seek support and their opinion, but whatever you do, do not suffer this indignity alone.
Peter Children|
