Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Not Mayberry for us all

Have you seen this going around Facebook?


My curfew was the street lights, my mom didn't call my cell, she yelled my name, I played outside with friends, not online. If I didn't eat what my mom cooked, then I didn't eat. Sanitizer didn't exist, but you COULD get your mouth washed out with soap. I rode a bike without helmet, getting dirty was OK, and your neighbors cared as much as your parents did. Re-post if you drank water from a garden hose & survived!


This picture is so different for a child who grew up in an abusive household. There were good times and bad, but the fear in your heart is hard to ever get over.


This is the way I remember it.


“My curfew was the sound of dad’s truck and trailer turning in on the end of the street. That is when I knew my friends had to go home and I had to be in the house. I didn’t dare go to their houses if I thought he might come home. If dad had a bad day, that is when he’d line us up and whip us with the belt. Sanitizer didn’t exist, but I could be beaten for whatever misbehavior he imagined. I rode a bike without a helmet but got yelled at and berated when I fell off of it and got my knees skinned. Getting dirty was a way to get in trouble, too, because he worked like a slave to buy you those clothes. Your neighbors hid their eyes and shut their windows and pretended they didn’t hear. Re-post of your childhood was not Mayberry.”