By Georgie Bright Kunkel

When one is very young and wishing one was older, time seems to drag by. But later in life time flies faster than we can contemplate. You have heard the advice, “Live for the moment.” But what does that really mean? I suppose that it means to be childlike in reveling in the world around one’s self and not worrying about the future. But childhood has been overrated in its supposed carefree mode. It may seem like a delightful period in living but it is not all sweetness and light. The lack of learning and physical development that is still to take place makes childhood a precarious time in many ways. The child’s mind is not yet filled with experiences filed away that can be drawn on to protect the self. It takes years of real life experience to prepare one to be an independent and problem solving human being. And with the variation of intelligence in the world of people there is quite a variation of ability to compete in the world

When I was growing up there were books available to help one live life successfully. How to Win Friends and Influence People was a manual to help wend one’s way through life in the crowded city. Living in a city was much different from living the pastoral existence amongst extended family and friends. I can remember living in a small town which had no stop lights. I saw few police officers on the streets. Murder was unheard of. The only gossip was about the local doctor dipping into his own medical supplies to feed his addition to drugs. Most people lived the simple life except for the local bank president whose son built a regulation length swimming pool in their spacious yard.

As to the attitude of most people—it was survival as well as congeniality. People lived mostly within their means. Even the well to do did not flaunt it unnecessarily.

Except for the times when the bank president’s wife gave talks about her trips to Africa. What excitement that was to see the pictures she took of the “savages” who wore few clothes. I am sure she approved of the missionaries who saw to it that everywhere they went, the naked were properly clothed.
There was a pecking list in our little town society—the rich entrepreneur’s wife dominating church life and such. People thought I was deprived as I grew up without a father. In my day, not having a father meant that we were living without the traditional breadwinner. To be widowed with ten living children made my mother the object of pity. She didn’t fit into the accepted pattern of housewife staying home while husband went out to work.

I was not brought up to catch a man who could provide for me. As I have mentioned before, I grew up believing that women could achieve anything they worked for and they didn’t have to wait for permission from men to strike out into the world. My attitude has often confused men who never knew whether they should open doors for me or not. And my response to men who didn’t always know how to treat a “free” woman has been, “If you get there first, then open the door for the one who is walking in after you.” Politeness knows no sex.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at 206-935-8663 or gnkunkel@comcast.net