growing up me . continued

Someone reading my blog mentioned about how they went back and looked at the home they grew up in and how different it looked. I thought I would address that topic too. Many times I have gone past the house by the park. My how times have changed. The home is now in what would be considered a run down area. I have even seen things in the paper about drug deals and shootings in the neighborhood. The park has changed too. It is prettier but not a place for kids to go to and enjoy activities supervised by anyone. The swings are gone. Of course the monkey bars are gone because lets face it now days you aren't allowed on anything like that anymore. Too dangerous they say. Also now days the people that hang out in parks are not the kind you want your little ones around either. Oh sure some of it is still nice and patrolled and taken care of but the rules have changed. I remember one of the fond memories I had was on the weekend I could go to the filling station on the corner and buy a coke from a machine out front. That was the only pop or soda...whatever you call it...that I ever had. Now there is no filling station. The road is wider, traffic is heavier, people are of different hues and language is not always English. Times have changed. The grade school I went to is gone and a new very large beautiful school has taken its place. No more fire escapes going down the sides of the building. No more children walking through the alleys and up the hill and past the cemetery to get to the school. Heaven forbid anyone should walk to school now. Too much traffic, too many bad people that prey on little ones. Times have changed. Continued