After losing my high school friend Julie last week I haven't felt like posting anything cheery the past few days. So this post will be more reflective. A few of my former Kelley classmates have e-mailed me. Here are two descriptions they used to describe Silver Bay in those messages: microcosm and naive childhood.
I cannot begin to count how many times I heard Mom and my mother-in-law Ruby say that "Silver Bay was a good place to bring up kids." A few years ago I told stories about Silver Bay in a coffee house. Then I started writing. As I work on a memoir of that time and place, I struggle with the central point of the venture. It was in the main such a happy childhood. So safe and secure. Was it too safe and secure? Was there a downside of living in a bubble off Highway 61? Did Silver Bay's sheltered life prepare us enough for life in the bigger world? I wonder if any of my classmates have any thoughts on the subject.
I suspect that the upside wins out. The older I get the more I suspect that safety in childhood gives a person resilience and, in the main, a stable optimistic state of mind. In the main, I believe that safety and security is best for as long as possible. There will plenty opportunities later to face fear of all kinds.
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