Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details.Tell me what our children’s world will be like By J. G. Fabiano I don’t know about anyone else, but I want to go back to a time when all I had to worry about was how to heat my home and feed my family. The other day my wife and I were invited to an engagement party thrown by my daughter’s friends in Medford, just outside of Boston. It was an afternoon affair because the Patriot’s first playoff game was at 8 p.m. that evening. Things being what they are here in Patriot Nation, I sincerely believe that nothing short of a nuclear holocaust would have stopped the party from being anything other than an afternoon affair. My wife and I were picked up by our friends; a.k.a. future in-laws. This is an interesting story in itself because my wife and Ruth were friends long before my daughter met her future husband. Some say they had something to do about it. Whatever the case, it’s very clear I have absolutely nothing to say about it. Our conversation, while we were driving to the party, concerned politics and how our nation is going through difficult times. We talked about the war in Iraq, the governmental scandals, and how our freedoms are being eroded because of what has become a perpetual war on terror. Throughout the conversation, it was obvious our thoughts were with our children. Since the national debt has reached historic proportions, and the concept of buying a house has been eliminated by huge property costs, the joy of having our children marry was reduced because of our concern for their future. Half-way to our destination the conversation quieted down because it evolved from the excitement of planning a wedding to the probability our children would not have the future or the opportunity we had when we first started our lives together. We arrived at our destination about 45 minutes later and found a place to park on the street. It was a nice neighborhood filled with homes that were literally on top of each other. Since I live in Maine, and am used to having a lot of land around me, it was difficult to understand how people could live so close to each other. But the people we were visiting were not like us. They were city people. The train to the city was only a block away, and every kind of convenience was within a simple walk. I remember when I first moved to York it took me over 30 minutes to find a place where I could buy a stick of gum. When we arrived we were greeted not by our children, but by their friends. The owner of the home welcomed me by shaking my hand and jamming his chest into mine. I could never understand where this new greeting came from. Since he was a rather large man, after the greeting I excused myself to go to the bathroom in hopes I hadn’t punctured a lung. I also realized that every one of my daughter’s friends I met would do the same, so I prepared myself for the pummeling that was sure to happen. After I got my breath I found my daughter, and it was obvious she was happy in the environment she was in. The home was beautiful and pristine. The wife of my daughter’s friend, who had offered her house for the engagement party, was glowing in the knowledge she had a truly fine home. I find it interesting every time I walk into a house I’ve never visited before; some feel cold even though the temperature is fine and the house itself is well set up. It’s like an aura that surrounds the structure, making it a place you want to visit often or a place you stay away from. The house of the engagement party was one of those homes that shine with warmth and love. It was a place of friendship, and a place that will enjoy a wonderful future. All of a sudden, the dark conversation in the car was starting to make little sense. Walking throughout the house, I noticed groups of friends having a wonderful time together. The food displayed in every room of the house was wonderful, but the atmosphere in the house overwhelmed even the tastiest of foods. This atmosphere came not from just the home itself, but also from all the people in it. I met groups of people, all smiling and enjoying each other. I met individuals who were proud of what they did and happy about their future. Yes, I said happy about their future. You see, they considered the problems of our nation and world to be opportunities. I don’t think they understood the concept of problems because they were young and all they had to worry about was each other. Another thing I noticed was the people were individuals that I have seen with my daughter for a long time. Some for well over a decade. When I first met them, they were going to school and enjoying the concept of becoming. Now that many of them had finished becoming, they were now in the process of being. Another thing I notice was I, and my future in-laws, were the oldest people there. I felt this as I walked through the room and passed a mirror. In the background were people who used to look like me. In my mind’s eye, I was still young and vibrant. Then I focused back on myself and saw the gray and lack of hair. At first I wondered who it was in the mirror. But then I smiled in the knowledge that it was now their time to enjoy their youth, and it was my time to watch them do so. Wandering from one conversation to the next, I noticed another being that looked as old as me. It was the father of the owner of the house. To my shock, he looked exactly like his son. The only difference was that he was an older image. What surprised me more was the child he was holding in his arms. It was obvious he was proud of what he was protecting. Watching the two of them enjoy each other I found a bit of a tear in my eye. It seems I came to the realization that I was possibly observing a future I would not mind having. The party continued with people congratulating my daughter and future husband. Everyone seemed happy in the knowledge that their group of friends was stabilizing further by not growing farther apart. We were the first to bid our farewells. That is what the older are supposed to do. The conversation that filled the car going home had nothing to do with politics or how our nation is going through difficult times. It had everything to do with our children’s future, and how fortunate they were to have such wonderful friends. I think we decided that day how fortunate we were to have the same. The End.
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