Monday, August 10, 2009

A Note From Frank Stathopoulos

Is it not amazing that we all remain close after all these years. I believe that we grew up at the right time in life. I wish i could go back to the 63rd st. drive in theater.
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2 comments:

Bob Pflanz said...

Yeah! There are only a few drive-ins left. I used to like to go to the 63rd or the Crest or the Leawood or the Heart or the 40 Hiway drive-in. But I don't remember seeing any movies there. It did feel safer there than parking someplace at a park. (and you could get cokes and popcorn besides)

August 11, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Anonymous said...

Hi Frank:

We most assuredly did.

Harry Truman and then Uncle Ike took care of us, Uncle Ike doing so while playing golf.

There was prosperity. It was quite, slow, and in the low numbers unlike the tech bubble and other great gainers for some in years thereafter. But, following upon the great depression it was prosperity at last. Mortgage interest rates were low, the GI bill allowed all who wished to go to college, the great depression was over as was the war. Finally, one could own a car, and buy a house and send one's kids to college. Everything was possible. And for our folks who had lived through the great depression and the war (My dad returned when I was four years of age and upon his first sighting of me he offered me gum which sent me screaming to my Mother--he was after all a strange man) could build upon a dream secure and with hope. They were the generation of sacrifice. We were the generation of beneficiaries.

And, it was safe and it was secure. I lived as you all did in the middle of KC, first at 3308 Brooklyn and from the 3rd grade on at 4026 Euclid. From very early childhood we were turned loose to roam on the bus and streetcar system and on our bicycles with not a worry. By age 10 I knew the public transit system perfectly and could go anywhere in the metropolitan area with the first fare and several transfers. As far as bike rides I used to ride my bike from the Euclid house to Swope park and back. No one was concerned about me as long as I got home before dark..

My Mom used to give me perhaps $1 each weekend to go "downtown" I and my friend Cissy (Cecelia) would take the Woodland bus downtown ending up at 12th street and Grand or Main, I cannot remember which. We went to the Woolworth/Kresge(?) on the corner of 12th and Main, had a Chili Dog at the counter, shopped for lipstick and Evening of Paris perfume, crossed the street to the movie theater between 11th and 12th on Main, took in the Matinee, went to the Forum Cafeteria and had Pie and took the bus home.

No one ever worried about us and we were 10 years old! We were just out and about doing our thing. No one took us anywhere. In fact my family did not have their first after the war car until 1948 and believe me it was not used to haul my small ass downtown.

We also took the Prospect bus to Fairy Land Park and would swim and go on the rides, returning at dusk. No one was worried about us.

Kids were safe. There were jobs. If folks worked and saved their children were not only safe, but were assured a better , at least an easier life, then their parents.

Kids learned from this freedom of movement to be independent and unafraid. The world around us allowed us to become a better product adult.

And then just about the time our hormones began banging around, along came rock and roll to express those feelings that the bouncing around hormones arose.

What a great and happy time High School was. For most of us there was not a worry in the world. The world was secure, our Paseo was there mighty and strong, our friends provided a wonderful closeness and protective blanket, the faculty did not let you stray to far.

Our parents worried only about cigarettes and liquor. Drugs were not in the picture. Many of us had a cigarette or two and a drink or two, but no harm done. No one's brain was fried and the smart kids could quit at any point.

There will never be another time like this. As an historian I will say it was the very best time in the whole of history to grow up , and the Midwest was the very best place to do it.

How blessed we were and are. We all need to recognize it and be thankful for it. Our parents made a lot of sacrifices for us, as parents still do and always will, but for them it was perhaps the first time to know, for sure, that your children would be better off than you if you just saw to it. And they did.

God bless our parents, Paseo, and the country that gave use every opportunity to be all that we could be.

Claudine

August 13, 2009 at 7:26 PM

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