My Wonderful Hometown

I grew up in a small town on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia. We went to the Varsity to eat every Friday night... and if you haven't heard of the Varsity... I highly recommend it for not only great food, but a Lube job as well. On Friday nights, after leaving the Varsity, my Dad would drive over to the Planter's Peanut shop to pick up a bag of warm, fresh roasted peanuts. They were absolutely the best . If we were good, he would turn around and drive down Fourteenth Street to let us look at the "hippies." God, Atlanta was as big as New York to me in my youth. The town I grew up in was ABSOLUTE "Americana." Kids were free to walk everywhere by themselves, go to the 'East Point' Theater , or the swimming pool alone, with no worries that ANYTHING would ever go wrong. It was a time that one of the mothers in the neighborhood would load up her Ford station wagon with ten kids from our block, and drop us off at Six Flags Over Georgia at ten in the morning, and another Mother would pick us all up at the gate at closing... never with any worry other than we might run out of money and just have to drink out of the water fountain, instead of buying "cherry berries". People were simpler then, times were almost "Leave it To Beaverish." It saddens me to be such a worry wart about my kids... and it certainly bugs the Crap out of them. But the times that I grew up in were times of hard work, Christian values, and morals that still applied to every waking person. Me and my friends would walk the two miles to the swimming pool every day of the summer... get there at ten, and swim until six, when the pool closed... never any calls home, or texts from the folks.. they just knew we would be okay. I cannot imagine letting my twelve year old daughter go ANYWHERE for that many hours , without being in contact with her, and knowing what was going on. I do not ever see that point in time returning, nor can I see never worrying about my kids constantly. That , to me is a very sad statement of the society that we live in today. I truly wish that I could just let my kids go and BE kids, but I cannot. I wish that I could drop my younger children off at Six Flags in the morning, and not have to worry about them until I picked them up at eleven. But I can't. And THAT is what bothers me most about today's times and lack of values. When did people completely lose their sense of what is right and wrong... and how did SO many weirdos come to walk around among us ? Granted, I know many, many wonderful people ; but what disillusions me is the growing number of unstable, totally 'Whacked" out people that walk among us. My kids say that I am paranoid ... and they are completely right. It makes me start to think about what life will be like for my future grandchildren.. Will they be able to walk to the community pool, and spend the day, or will I have to go and watch them every second? I was truly blessed to have grown up in a more secure, loving, knowing environment; and I am grateful for that fact all of the time. Our kids are under tremendous amounts of pressure and situations that I would have never in my wildest dreams thought would come to light. I try not to dwell on it too much, but it is a constant in my mind. Can our future EVER turn for the better, or will all of us live in a state of worry and paranoia? I have begun to believe that... you know what? WE are the ONLY things that can start a change... WE are the only ones that can turn things around. We need to quit living in a scared shell, and start boasting to the world... that we are "MAD AS HELL' AND WE AREN'T GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" How else can we change the world, if not step by step, person by person, voice by voice? Maybe I am crazy, maybe I am a visionary; but I am a MOTHER, and this is a top priority on my list.. Anyone want to join me?