I watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" yesterday for the first time in years. This was a movie I watched with my mom in my youth quite a bit, and it was a book I absolutely loved. I see the movie differently now than I did when I was sixteen. When I was sixteen, I understood many of the messages in the film, but I notice even more now. I see how incredibly important and different Atticus was in his small town. He was not only a great lawyer, an ideal father, but an incredible example of strength, integrity, and compassion. While watching it, I also couldn't help but notice how the children could run around the neighborhood and the town without worry. They walked to and from school by themselves. It wasn't the perfect town, but it felt safe and secure. I watched the making of the film, and it interviewed people who lived in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, and they testified of how small, safe, and simple the town felt in those days (the 1930's). I feel a sense of longing when I hear about places and times like these. I grew up in a small town myself, and I remember walking around the neighborhood and town, but I never felt this pure safe feeling. I always had in the back of my head, "Don't talk to strangers, etc." Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I had those cautions because it made me aware of my surroundings. I think being aware of your surroundings is good for everyone to have (especially women). I remember being a young girl when Polly Klaas was kidnapped. I was still "little" but old enough to understand that there was evil in the world. What scared me so much back then was the very night she was kidnapped, I too was at a friend's house spending the night (which, if I remember correctly, was similar to her story). That changed me.
I understand that even a long time ago, there were still bad people doing awful things, but I feel like things are so different now. For instance, I live in another small town. It is filled with friendly faces, beautiful landscapes... the list goes on, but a horrible thing happened a street away from my doorstep this last Saturday. Two men stabbed four men outside of a wedding reception. That's right... a stabbing. I didn't know this at the time, all I knew is that there were sirens going off from 11pm until after 1am. My husband said that when he went to work early in the morning, he still saw police and caution tape at the scene. I feel weird that this happened so close to my house. The victims survived. Everyone is saying that it due to gang activity. How sad...
I remember a good friend of mine telling me the following, "There is no such thing as a safe place... only safe people." That is so true. What I got from this is that, sadly, awful things can happen anywhere, but if you surround yourself with good and positive people, you feel safer.
I am sorry to make this a sad posting. I wish that the world was not so violent. I feel like a lot of these things are happening more now because on top of the usual: gang activity, etc... there are incredibly desperate people due to the economy. I hear of burglaries happening in homes and businesses on the news. I saw on MSNBC.com where a man held up a front desk clerk at a nice hotel, and another guest of the hotel with law enforcement background tackled the guy and made him surrender. The man with the gun said he was doing it because he had no money and Christmas was coming and he wanted to get gifts for his daughter. I don't know if that was true, but this made me so sad. These people are so desperate that they are putting other people's lives on the line. Maybe this particular story spoke out to me because I also work at a nice hotel? In any case, it makes me feel like I miss times like in "To Kill a Mocking Bird", even though I didn't live back then. Has anyone else felt like they miss things even though they have never experienced them?
It is against my nature to end on a depressing note. I must think of something uplifting to say. I am grateful for my community and the friendships I've made here. In the past couple of years, I feel like I have a great network of friends close to where I live. After moving away to go to school, I didn't make many friends where I live now. I was so busy with school and work, so I just kept my old friends. It was sad at times because we were all spread out. I'm happy to say that I am still friends with those friends, but now I have forged more friendships here. A lot of this has to do with joining my church last year and getting to know so many more people. All of these things make me feel happier than when I first started writing this post.
Thanks for reading and,
Happy Tuesday to you and yours...
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