Don’t forget the everyday goodness that still exists in America
Of all the questions I asked my grandparents who lived through the tumultuous 1960s, a time of political strife, immense change and social turmoil, I never asked if they were frightened for their children – my parents, aunts and uncles.
I suppose that’s a sort of historical blindspot. I have always been fascinated in history and family history, asking them to stretch their minds back to the details of people I didn’t know. But I never thought I’d need their wisdom to help survive my own middle age, in the midst of raising children.
I assumed that part of the upheaval then led us to more prosperous, peaceful and stable times, because, after all, when I was growing up, I knew that Ronald Reagan was president. That was about it. I was just a middle-class kid, listening to MTV and playing Atari. We didn’t worry about school shootings, just being picked last on a kickball team, something I routinely lived.
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