Back to Being a Kid

Notes of Concern…
…Jackson Blair


Back to Being a Kid



“When you were a kid, you probably yearned to reach adulthood. But after a decade or two of getting up too early, commuting to work, paying taxes, getting groceries and other repetitious non-negotiable aspects of adulthood, a realization that being a kid wasn’t so bad takes hold.” - Christian Laforce

I had some time to think this summer. I decided to spend some time wallowing in my memories of my youth. I had a great time as a kid. I was a member of a large extended family who all lived in the same small Pennsylvania town (Vandergrift). I was an only child but I didn’t know it. I had gazillion cousins and second cousins, 28 aunts and 28 uncles, and lots of family friends.

My family had a “farm” in the country. We had no animals, no crops, and we did no real farming but we called it a “farm”anyway. We all went there every Saturday and Sunday. We had a really large picnic table that could easily seat 50 or more. Then we had a really big circle of chairs and couches where everyone could sit and talk. We had a big grill that had been made at the local U.S. Steel plant (where most of my relatives worked) and we always had a big “feed” on the weekend.

Typically we had really good steaks and potatoes from the grill. My uncles manned the grill. My aunts brought all the other stuff, mostly pies and cakes but the occasional vegetable. One memory I have is that fruit NEVER substituted for dessert in this family.

My cousins and I had a great time at the “farm.” We played, explored and drove. Since the “farm” had a big apple orchard, we were all permitted to drive our parents cars around the orchard. Most of us were well under the age of 16 so this was quite a treat. We had avenues and streets between the apple trees. All of us were accomplished drivers by the time we took our tests for our driver’s licenses at age 16.

It was a carefree time. We had no worries. We had a roof over our heads, food on the table, and our parents seemed happy. Most of our parents had lived through, and survived, the Great Depression. They were content with the “simple things” of life. They did not dream of having more money, or collecting more things. They took great pleasure in the company of loved ones, the achievements of their children, and the lack of life threatening occurrences like depressions and wars.

I grew up, went to college and began a career and a family. I eventually went to Wall Street. My wife and I chose to raise our family where there was green grass and blue seas (in Connecticut) but the price I paid for that was a four hour commute every day.

Needless to say, I was not present for much of what happened in family life. Certainly, I did not have the chance to attend my childrens’ sporting events. I often left the house before they were awake and returned when they were getting bathed and ready for bed.

My father went to work before I went to school. He came home after I returned from school. But he was around for everything that was happening in our family. He was there when it was time for me to go to bed. He didn’t travel in his job so I suppose there was not even one night that I went to bed and he was in another city or another country.

I had a pretty idyllic childhood. It was very different from the childhood my children experienced and that most children experience today.

So while I can dream of how nice it would be to experience my childhood again…I am not at all certain that my children or my grandchildren will enjoy those same memories. Perhaps they will find reasons to appreciate their childhoods. Certainly there were more opportunities, more travel, better education, and a higher quality of “stuff.”

That said, my own children loved returning to visit their grandparents. They loved the small town in which I grew up. They still talk about their grand aunts and uncles. In many ways, they seem to have found a way to cherish the same things I cherished.

I think many of my readers probably can remember a time when things were simpler. Many of us can wish for less complicated times.

But I think at the end of the day it is always the interpersonal relationships, the actual giving and receiving of familial affection, and the appreciation of the sacrifices others made on our behalf that constitutes our remembered heritage.