Clashes in Memory

Having just returned from a trip to reunite with classmates that I graduated with in high school, I have to adjust to the culture shock that it created. 

While telling a friend about my experience, she said that when she went to her reunion, she was stunned as to why all of the parents showed up at her reunion and that the room was filled with “old” people.   Culture shock.  We all looked like our parents.  And some of us must have had some hard living experiences.

The town I grew up in is very small.  But what disappointed me more than anything else was that the townspeople didn’t support the businesses on main-street.  Most of the buildings were empty and some were falling down.  They tore down the elementary school, high school, library and several other buildings used for the city.  What?  They couldn’t figure out how to repurpose them?  Someone commented on the fact that the buildings were not built very well in the first place.  How can that be?  In England, we stayed in a building that was once a cow barn and they were able to figure out how to clean it up and repurpose it. 

We didn’t have cell phone service while there.  AT&T and Verizon are not compatible.  We had to drive 50 miles north to get to an Interstate Highway in order to use our phones. 

There is something about the famer mentality that I don’t understand.  While driving by the farms both going and coming home, you would see these expensive pieces of equipment sitting out in the “weather” or in the fields.  Most looked like they were rusting out.  No farmer worth his salt would be caught “painting” his farming equipment.  I remember my parents talking about the prosperity of a farm because the “out” buildings had been painted.  So, if the barn is freshly painted, then they must have had a good harvest.

That took me to the kind of money I make in my life in comparison to what my parents made in their lifetime.  All I can tell you is that I am so glad I got an education that would bring in the money to support the lifestyle I now have.  Thank goodness for some advance planning and saving.  Even though I am not enamored with Oklahoma, I was delighted to get home to my comfortable bed, my puppies and more familiar surroundings. 

It will take some time for me to process all that happened, the conversations I had with the people and the pictures I took to complete the memories I had growing up.  Mostly, the trip filled me with happiness and gave me a larger picture of who I am now.