Do you ever find yourself missing "the good old days"? I know I do, all the time. But do you ever wonder what made them so good, or why we miss them?
My parents always used to talk about the good old days, and they grew up in the 1930's and 1940's; not such a pleasant time. I miss the good old days, and I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's. We had issues like Vietnam, Watergate, assasinations, drugs, etc. Not good stuff at all (debatable point about the drugs). One hundered years ago there were people who missed the good old days, and for them that was about 120 years ago.
The "good old days" were a time when things were simpler. Life wasn't so fast paced and people treated each other with more respect. Hmmm, that would seem to rule out pretty much anytime I can recall. With racism and gender issues, we couldn't be referring to the 60's and 70's. World War II sucked, as did World War I and any other war in the history of the world. The Great Depression couldn't have been too fun. So when were there actually any "good old days"?
In truth, there were good old days, for all of us, no matter when we lived. You see, the "good old days" in no way refers to a physical time or place, not to an actual event or era, in fact not to an actual anything. The "good old days" represents innocence, and at some point, being human, we all were at an age where we experienced that innocence. Unfortunately, we all reached an age when reality set in and we reallized innocence was only a facade. Yet our minds still retain memories from those days, whenever they were. Our fathers were the strongest men in the neighborhood, our mothers the most loving and beautiful women, and our homes the warmest and most comfortable. There was a time, in our minds, when life was grand. The "good old days" did exist, but only in our minds. However, that doesn't make them any less good, or any less real for that matter.
This is why we can never return to the good old days, and why young children today are experiencing the good old days as we speak even though us old people feel those days are gone forever. For us, of course, they are.
There was a time when life was simpler and sweeter, when people loved each other more, when we were safer. That wasn't the 70's, 60's, 30's or any other time; it was when we were too young to know the realities of the world. And yes, those days were very good, and, unfortunately, very old.
But they are here for our youth, and it is a gift we old people must never stop giving to our youth. The good old days are here right now for them, and those days are very real to them, but only if we, the adults, make them real. You see, even for us, the good old days aren't really gone, they've just been transferred to a new generation. They are here, and they are real. The youth will enjoy them without fully grasping the significance of what they are. Maybe, just maybe, if we do our part to help them, we can cling to at least a small portion of the "good old days" and carry them with us forever.
