The Midlife

Thanks to my sister for providing the inspiration behind this post.

My adolescence thrived in the 80s, which I declare as simpler times. When the height of personal annoyance was using a #2 pencil to recoil a cassette stuck in a tape deck after hours of singing and dancing like nobody was watching.

There were no school shootings, as most peer beefs were handled with a one-two punch at the school yard or in a bathroom stall at the roller-skating rink. Our version of cyber bullying on social media? A passed note in class, which may or may not have been shaped like a makeshift football. If you wanted to cut someone to the core, all you had to do was not sit with them in the cafeteria at lunch or if you were evil, write something defamatory on a bathroom stall wall.

Sure, our simpler times weren’t perfect. We had our fair share of problems. Missing children on milk cartons, with a side-by-side photo of what the child looks like now were cautionary tales. If you didn’t want to end up on one, you’d better be back before dark or dinner time, whichever came first. But all in all, the fear of being kidnapped or hurt existed less when we were carefree kids of the 80s out riding bikes and playing in the woods. Now, I’m not a die-hard outdoorsperson, but I will say that my explorations as a young person trying to build a fort may or may not have informed my current interest in hiking.

While my youth lacked some of the conveniences we take for granted such as next-day delivery and transportation within minutes, there was beauty in simpler times. My daughter will never know the patience and determination I expressed in waiting for The Best catalog to arrive and drafting my Christmas list in June. My online wish list? Pen, paper, and a little hope.

Nowadays, is anyone else feeling like Kevin coming down from the attic in Home Alone? When he comes downstairs looking for his family and calls out: “Is this a joke?” It’s hard not to feel like Kevin: alone and somehow confused about what is happening around us. Maybe we’re all longing for simpler times. I know I am. How about you?