We lost something along the way

As I get older, I find my mood tends to swing more and more to the nostalgic. More "personal history" keeps popping up in my weekly newspaper column, I have gotten very involved with the Kittson County Historical Society and the museum, and I just tend to reminisce a lot more than I used to.

I am not sure if this is a good thing, or just another sign that I am sliding into the "Senior" generation. More likely the latter. The thoughts that occupy my mind today are directed at things like ending a career for more leisure, staying on top of social security (which is financed by Libertarians like Dane, of course), and managing my cash to make it all possible. I haven't got to the point of worrying about Depends yet, I think that comes much later in the process.

But in the course of all of this I tend to recall the days of my youth, growing up in Karlstad at a time where kids had more freedom to roam and get into minor trouble without their parents directing them to remain dirt and germ free.

Things have changed. Not that I would like to go back to those times, the present has a lot of positives, but there aspects that I do miss. Today, parents do have a lot more to worry about than did mine. However, at least some of their worry, I believe, is misdirected. For instance, my folks worried very little about the germs I came in contact with on a daily basis, they bathed us every Friday whether we needed it or not, and food labels did not even contain ingredients.

And somehow we not only survived, but remained fairly healthy as well.

We had the run of the town as kids, and roamed wherever the day took us. When I was five years old, I walked across town to the movie theater each night, then walked home in the dark once the movie was over. No one would dare allow a child to do that today. But it was a more innocent time, people were less mobile, and all the nuts lived in the big city, so it was okay.

We have, out of necessity, become more protective of our children, and even ourselves, and we have had to give up a lot. Although my children got a little taste of that freedom, my grandchildren will never know it at all.

I feel a sense of loss in all of this.