A Little Background

Picture a beautiful small all-American town. More of a village, really. Imagine light breezes blowing off of the gorgeous little lake that sort of surrounded the town. Everybody knew just about everybody. But did they?

Everyone always felt pretty safe. I don't think there's really ever been any crime in that whole area, even now. Back then, maybe a little dope, but nobody ever hurt anybody else. Most people, especially in the 70s, kept that kind of thing to themselves. You knew who did, and who didn't. So, who you hung around with pretty much told your story. No one cared, but it just sort of told where you stood on the 'dope' issue. But, again...it didn't matter if you did or if you didn't, and nobody pressured anyone else, either way. Everybody liked everybody, no matter who they were or where they came from. It was the 70s.
I remember my sister going to spend the night at a friend's house in town. (we didn't actually live IN town) When she'd come home, she'd tell me how she and her friend sneaked out of the house and took one of the cars from the used car lot that her girlfriend's dad owned. Just for a joyride. I guess they must have been 16, but now that I think about it, not necessarily. THAT was probably the biggest kind of trouble anybody would get into, but they never got caught, so they didn't get into any trouble. 

Every kid's parents knew everybody else's kid, and it was okay for them to tell a kid to go home, if he thought he or she should go home. Kids respected other kids' parents, and if someone even gave a 'look' (but nobody hardly did) to someone's child, that child would pay attention. We could pretty much trust all of our friends' parents to give us direction, if we needed it. All of our moms and dads knew our friend's moms and dads. Many of THEM went to school together.
And, if a kid was out raising some kind of hell, or got into any trouble, rest assured his parents would know about it before he ever got home. And that included us.

It was a great place to grow up. It was safe. We were somewhat sheltered from bad things. But, we were also a little trusting and naive. We just really didn't know there were people out there who could hurt us. Most of us didn't even get more than 2 television stations, and neither of them were very clear. But, at that time, it didn't matter. There were no electronics to take the attention off of growing up 'right'. People grew up looking others in  he eye and could have a conversation, whether they were 2 years old or 80.

Everybody, for the most part, liked everybody. I don't think there was a whole lot of backstabbing or jealously, or anything like that. There were sort of 'clicks' of kids at school, but it didn't mean they ever picked on anybody else. Nobody got bullied. There were jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, 'princesses', and even a few creepy people, but everybody was, for the most part, pretty accepting of everybody else. Everybody always spoke to everybody, at the very least, even if they were clearly not part of their crowd.  Although I never really felt like I fit in anywhere, I never felt like because I kept my nose squeaky clean (mostly due to my dad being a little more strict than most of my friend's dads) that I was looked down upon by the 'partiers'. Nobody was.
Like I mentioned, I never really 'fit in' anyplace, either. I never went to parties, never just hung out with anybody, and I'm not sure if it's because people knew my dad was kind of strict, or if they just didn't want to include me. But, I never really belonged anywhere, so maybe that has something to do with why I got caught in the trap that I did...which I WILL get to...I'm getting there.

Most kids back then used their dad's car to get around to events or whatever they might need it for, at least until they've had one or two winters under their belt. Learning to drive in a northern climate is crucial, I think. And, I only put my dad's car in the ditch once or twice during that whole time. But, most kids would work enough to eventually buy their own wheels, at least by the time they were a senior in high school, me included.

Growing up in small town America was pretty normal. Mom and Dad both worked, kids went to school and all of us did okay. We took family vacations, we did things together on Sundays, and we always supported the other siblings' events at school whether it was sports related or drama, or whatever it was. The whole family would always go and take an interest, and we all had that kind of support.
That being said, and I am not finding fault with anyone for this, it's just the way it was...I never felt like I could 'talk' to my parents back then. Not about anything of importance. They were caught up in raising all the kids, not just one, and nobody ever talked about personal things, or problems. 

We were not a family who ever said the words, 'Love ya'...like everybody does now. (I'm still not comfortable in saying it to people just to say it. I have my friends and family members who I dearly love, but beyond that, I don't like to say things I don't really mean. And, I have noticed that people who barely know each other sometimes say it to each other...I don't like it) But we all just knew. Dad was pretty strict, and none of his kids ever got too far out of line. He was always one step ahead of each of us...or at least he thought he was. I guess if we did anything so outlandish that we'd get caught...well, as far as I know, none of us ever did. I was grounded a lot, though, because 'I looked guilty'...(oh, yeah, way to 'parent') I LOOKED guilty?!? What the...sorry, but that's just what I look like. It's just the way my face goes. (my husband tells me that, even after all these years, when I walk into a room, he cannot read me by the look on my face. Maybe there's a reason for that)
Anyway, this is significant for a later post.