TODAY THE WORDS are WHERE DID THE TEEN CENTERS GO?

TODAY THE WORDS are WHERE DID THE TEEN CENTERS GO? My classmates of 67 are going to enjoy this message. Every so often, someone will post a photo of several of us listening to a popular band at our teen center, or as we called it the Rec Center and we all smile trying to figure out which ones are there. Why this topic came to my mind was due to never hearing young people talk about sharing times like the ones we shared. I wonder why we lost our teens to video games and where do they hang out? 

Let’s go back into my teen years and as I said, my classmates will enjoy this dance down memory lane. Our years were the sixties and this may be a major factor as we were the generation of having fun by joining in community fun. We supported our bands made up of local boys, our classmates and we were loyal fans and supporters. We gathered on the weekends and danced our hearts and legs to the T Bird; the Jerk; the Chicken; and the Twist; and some moves which never had names but we danced them anyway. We danced with each other and even if we weren’t dating someone; it was okay to dance with them. We laughed and we enjoyed the walk around by Ms. Maxine Moore who made sure we behaved. She joined in with us but we respected her. 

Oh, there were occasional spats or as people like to think of them as fights; but the cool part is after everyone calmed down; they were having fun together. No weapons were present so it was a punch or two and usually stopped by their buddies.

It was a place to go and we built friendships which have lasted all the way to our now Medicare years. Now, I may not be in the loop with young people these days but I somehow don’t see friendships lasting that long. I don’t see friends who will go to their grave with secrets shared in those early years. I don’t see too many bonds which are everlasting and true bonds. Is it just me or do young people find themselves in a revolving door society. I hope I am wrong and maybe my Twist days are not my primary focus but I do care about my friends and their families.

Now for the deeper thought……As life pulls our classmates out one by one; it seems we want to return in our thoughts to those beautiful, fun, carefree days when we could smile at each other; be dancing partners; scuffle sometimes; but all in all, we can be friends. Life can be fun; life can be cruel; and friends can be fun and unfortunately, friends can be cruel. Live Life; Love Life; and Live Life to the fullest by being a good friend to another. The last face you may see on this earth is one of those dear friends who has been standing by your side since the teen center.