Growing old for me means waking up at odd hours in the middle of the night, not able to sleep, to reflect on my life and a desire to share thoughts that seem so wise at night, then appear not so wise in the light of day.

This is one of those posts.

The good and bad of coming of age in the 50s and 60s growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I never had a key to the house since the doors were always open.

The Good

• Lombardi coached Green Bay Packers
• Kids playing sports outside after school and weekends
• Boy scout camps on beautiful lakes and campfires under bright stars
• Never needing to lock your door at night
• The magic innocence of slow dancing at Junior High school dances and your first kiss
• Not being aware of any girls getting pregnant during high school
• Reading books when you got bored because there were no computers, cell phones or video games
• A moral society where innocence was admired
• Being ethical was admired, not ridiculed
• Political and social civility
• Drive-in movies
• 25 cent hamburgers and 10 cent fries and drinks
• Watching Bart Starr’s touchdown from the stands during the Ice Bowl and being able to brag about it
• Two parent families were the norm
• Kids actually talking to each other, not having their face in a phone messaging instead
• Pornography not being part of everyday life
• Press and media were respected and they often actually reported real news, not opinion

The Bad

• A strict, outwardly non-emotional society where hugs and affection were often not easily expressed.
• Excessive morality inspired guilt over normal feelings and emotion
• Racism, separate, but equal racial policies.
• Intolerance for homosexuality
• Polluted waterways and smog
• Women were expected to raise kids and not pursue professional opportunity (possibly good too)
• Propeller commercial airplanes
• Noisy typewriters
• Slide rules
• Black and white TVs
• Vietnam war