My Mayberry Childhood

As I approach 70, I am becoming even more introspective. That is saying something. Those of you who read my blog know that I could get introspective about brushing my teeth. Introspection is the curse, or gift, of being an introvert. This morning I have been thinking about my childhood.

My first thought on the subject is that I had a happy childhood. I did. I look back at it with great affection. If I dig deeper, I wonder why my childhood was happy. There were the negatives like having all my siblings move out and marry by the time I was six. My parents, I think, didn’t really love each other and, in, fact probably didn’t like each other either. I remember weeks could go by without my mom saying a word to either my dad or me. Interestingly, silence and isolation is my go to when angry or hurt! I grew up lower middle class, like most of the town. I didn’t have a lot, but I had enough.

So, if family wasn’t the biggest reason for my happy childhood, then what is? I think it is growing up in a small town. Had I grown up in a city, I may have just been lost in the anonymous shuffle. Had I been raised in the country, I may have felt isolated and trapped. But small town was just right for me.

Was Slatington Mayberry? No it wasn’t that idyllic. But the familiarity was there. The small town vibe of everyone knowing everyone else. Of course that’s an exaggeration. But, I did deliver newspapers to my elementary school principal. I knew where most of my teachers lived. The counter person at the local drug store knew what I wanted as soon as I walked in. A police officer was the father of a close high school friend. The school crossing guards knew you and your parents. We had OUR seats for home basketball games at Smith Hall. We knew where all of our friends went to church. We all knew it was time to go home when the bank chimes rang at five. We could go to any barber in town because we all got the same haircut and they all gave the same haircut. In Mayberry there was the town drunk, Otis. I don’t know if we had an Otis, but we had our town characters. We knew each of them enough to kid around with them. We all got our prom tuxes as the same store. We all got our gym uniforms at Marty’s Sporting Goods. For someone who grew up in a big city, this may sound boring as hell. But to me, looking back, it was heaven.

Mayberry, NC was little Opie Taylor’s launchpad . Slatington, PA was mine. I hope you can look back fondly on your childhood whether it was in the country, or the city, or a small town like mine. Wherever it was, it had a big impact on who your are today. That’s enough introspection for now. Time to hit the trails!