Dear friends and family,
Happy Spring! Temperatures in the 50’s (in the day) and sunny skies . . . WooHoo!
I’m not holding my breath about sustaining this good weather . . . Or putting away my ‘snow-mo-blower’ and snow shovels, yet . . .
Here’s an example of dad’s penchant for taking a depressing kind of subject that nobody really wants to talk about and spinning it to show hope and redemption. At the beginning, he states “About sixty years ago . . . “. The article was written about 2006 and dad wasn’t worried about getting the math right.
Sue and I spent a delightful evening yesterday with a friend who I have known since High School. He lives pretty far away so, getting together is pretty rare. Doug is retired now . . . so he can make the trip . . . Don’t you agree? The next visit is on me, I guess.
We did not dwell on the past, much. I think we both are aware of experiencing a fruitful future. But, the visit did cause me to recall some of our High School exploits. I won’t write about my High School years at this time but, some of dad’s adventures are very similar to my own. I’m not sure if I care to get the math right . . .
I hope you enjoy reading this story and maybe, recall your own feelings of invincibility as a teenager.
Love to all,
David T
p.s. Comments are very much appreciated.You can write comments below each story.
“Kids Never Change”
By Don Tschirhart
Excerpted from the unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful World II: A Retired Reporter Looks At Life“
Kids Never Change
About sixty years ago my first class at Catholic Central High School in mid-town Detroit was interrupted by an announcement that some classmates were killed that morning in a bus-train accident.
I remember the shock as if it were yesterday. We stood, made the sign of the cross and prayed for our deceased friends.
In that era when war brought death close to our teenage lives we continued class believing this is what the victims would want us to do. For a time, until the shock wore down (and it did), it was no longer fun to be at school.
I thought about this accident the other day when I heard nine people — all but one were teenage high school students — died in two separate auto accidents.
The victims no longer suffer. It is the living that must pay the human price of suffering because of the crashes:
Parents who won’t have to harass their child to get him or her up for class and worry about his whereabouts at night.
Parents who will no longer see, hear, speak and hug their child or their children.
Parents who will not be proud of their child’s future accomplishments.
Brothers and sisters who won’t be yelled at in the worst of times and hugged and kissed at the best of times.
Aunts, uncles, grandparents who hereafter will hesitate to mention the child’s name without tears in their eyes.
Classmates who will not see them in school activities.
Friends who won’t be called to see what they are wearing to school or on a double date.
Friends who won’t be consulted about dresses and formal suits, flowers, transportation before the school prom.
Friends in whom the victim will not be able to confide secrets and complaints.
Two survivors from one of the crashes will wonder for the rest of their lives why they were spared.
Isn’t it odd that after accidents we pledge that similar events won’t happen again? Yet they do.
After the bus-train accident on Caniff street and the railroad tracks near Hamtramck, the state passed a law ordering all commercial vehicles to stop at railroad crossings. That didn’t stop truck or car/train accidents.
A few years ago a neighbor boy was involved in a “hilling” accident a mile from my Dryden home. He and companions were injured slightly, but area young people knew the dangers of this “thrill trip” and continue doing it.
Yes, they take the chance. Aren’t all teenagers indestructible?
I was invincible when I was young and drove with a friend to a basketball game near Orchard Lake in fog so thick you could barely make out the road. And I did many other things on a dare that I never told my parents about and now cringe when I think about them.
Don’t we wish we could stuff into a bottle and preserve the exuberance of youth, the willingness to be different knowing that being different is sometimes being the same, and their enthusiasm for the future?
Don’t we wish we could preserve in that bottle the first time we put lipstick on to impress “the boys,” or style our hair to impress “the girls?”
Don’t we wish we could preserve in that bottle the excitement of a senior high school year filled with magical moments topped by wearing a gown and “crown” to the podium to pick up our diplomas?
At that moment we are “kings” and “queens” of the world. We are filled with happiness as we walk down the podium steps waving the diploma to the cheers of our parents and friends in the audience.
Educators, parents and just plain onlookers must remind themselves over and over that these are young people. They are not automatons who can be turned on and off with a push of a button.
They must be reminded constantly of the brilliant theory taught by scientist Albert Einstein that for every action there is a reaction, which applies to life as well as physics:
When they do something wrong . . . something wrong will happen to them.
When they do something right . . . something right will happen to them.
Youth is a wondrous time of life. It is filled with just about every emotion there is — happiness, sadness, pride, depression, anger, love, desire to be respected . . .
It is not emotions that are the problem. The problem is keeping them under control.
It is when some of these emotions run amok that tragedies occur.
May the latest victim of their emotions rest in peace.
Don Tschirhart
I wonder what he’d write about the recent “trend” of school shootings nowadays. Are the shooters a “victim of their emotions” or would he think it more?
I know most people think of their high school experience and say “man I wish I could go back”. And as tough as life as an adult is… I feel like my best days are ahead. If I could only bottle up the energy of my 5yr old students… that’s be great! 😉