Thinking back

As mentioned this will be a memoir of sorts.  I quick way of getting my story out and one day putting it in a form that I will pass on so I guess I will go back to the beginning.

Born in Oxnard, California to a mom who was working for the Navy and father working for Southern Pacific Railroad. Of course all I have is pictures to look back on of those times.  I'd like to think I was a normal kid.  Lol well no I guess the few stories and memories are a bit on the bizarre side.  From getting drunk after pouring a tumbler full of champagne which I thought was apple juice to climbing a mailbox only to have it fall and pin me below breaking my arm at the growth point. 

Was born a few months premature and could not be left alone long as I would figure out ways to escape my crib or playpen.  My mother nicknaming my Jimmy Valentine.  Avoiding that I in fact again was named after a cartoon character in a Beatles movie. 

My mom and dad both worked often and my sister and I had nannies and housekeepers that would look after us.  I honestly can't recall much about that time but some were friends of the family and at one point an exchange student. 

My sister and I had a brother.  Tavis Darren. He passed away from SIDS it was rough on both of them but that is to be expected of course.  Most of my life is blank minus little tidbits up until I was about 11and one day my mother packed up the car and my sister and I were whisked away.  Reasons readers that are not important.  Some things are best left in the past but my mother knew that her decision was best for my sister and I. And more importantly her own happiness.  She was leaving everything behind to find her voice.

It's funny.  I never wondered until now about what if.  What if she had stayed? Would I be here living in Illinois? Would I have chosen a different path in life or be a different person.  My father was aggressive.  Abusive.  That I will share.  For the most part my sister and I were kept in the dark about that but we have our share of memories. 

School was school.  I remember private Catholic School.  Remember getting to take a break to go out and watch an episode of The Fall Guy being filmed at the train tracks behind the school and going to see my first movie in the theater,  E.T. 

I can't think of any occasion of dealing with bullies.  We were just kids.  Yeah it was a different time.  As mentioned before movies and TV were different.  Video games were still at the Atari 2600 stage and PC games were all text based.  Remember playing Ten Little Indians based on the Agatha Christie novel. 

Back then it was about being outside. Exploring,  riding bikes, surfing, and taking in everything. Cassette tapes,  vinyl, 8 tracks and beta max. 

And now?  Kids our age back then.  Games are cheap,  Internet,  DVDs.  Kids have access to everything at a young age.  Infants learning with iPads and other tablets.  Some not learning how a book actually works. 

Think about it.  All these things that kids have access to only our parents would have had back then.  Perfect example is the scene in Vacation.  Rusty asking his cousin about video games of the time only to hear,  "No. But my dad does."

Sometimes I wonder what things would be like if it were the same now.  Kids out playing exploring the real world instead of Minecraft or World of Warcraft.

There needs to be another shift. We need to get back to our kids to get out and explore. Buy them a camera and set them loose for a week. Now I'm not talking about  young young kids but our teens. These years they begin to shape themselves.  Begin to find their own voices. 

See what they come back with. It's cheap.  Free.  And honestly it does not take much.  Would we prefer them to sit in one place or talking in a headset to friends they have never met? Why not have them look,  listen,  and educate themselves. I bet the first few days will be the quick and random pictures but by the end of the week we and even they might see something. 

I do ask if you are reading this and do it please share with me what happens.  I'm curious.  My son is doing this right now and I look forward to putting a book together for him to remember these years. The places he found... Images he discovered and captured...something he can look at and remember and with any luck desire to keep that going always looking... Eyes up looking instead of staring at a screen.