Finding our way

Being young  sometimes finds us walking on thin ice. No matter how one  approaches it, the danger of falling through is always present. So the younger years are full of missteps and parents' minds search the landscape for possible dangers. We have all heard them."You come right home from school."  "Don't talk to strangers." "Watch who your Friends are."  "Keep away from certain neighborhoods."  Ah Mom, my Friends are doing it.  Mom says: If your friends all stuck their head in toilet would you do it too?"

So all of us kids know there are restrictions  and never the less find ways to circumvent some of them.

With that said, we spend time  with our friends and always the word of the (unknown author)."Lord gives us two ends to chose. One to think with and one to sit with. Our future depends upon which we chose; heads we win tails we lose.." So we were older. Not necessarily wiser.

We were in the Canadian Air Force--eighteen years old strutting our stuff and had the weekend off.We were close to the American border and decided to visit Buffalo New York. All three of us had never been to the USA and  thought it  would be a nice experience. After all, we were wearing our uniforms.    Digger, Donnie and Brian. We left Saturday morning and after we traveled about 100 miles  we decided to have a bite to eat. It was a roadside restaurant.  There were some black people working there but we thought nothing of it. Our three high schools only had one family and were our friends at my  school.

When we got to Buffalo we walked around the city proper and, being bored,  decided to take in a movie.We bought our tickets and  sat down towards the back of the movie house after the usual advertisements and shorts we settled in. The theater was dark and when the lights came on everyone in the theater was staring at us. We quickly realized we were the only white people in the theater. An elderly black man  came over to talk to us said, "Are you lost?" We explained to him we were in the Canadian Air Force  and thought we would enjoy an outing in Buffalo. He shook his head telling us this was not a good place to be and they had some rioting some days before. He told us  he would see we got out safely.  He asked where we had parked our car. He smiled and said: "You're lucky your car wasn't vandalized"  He was a true gentleman. After  we got in the car we decided to head  home, promising to tell no one  how dumb we were.

That weekend was a constant reminder to me and when I moved to the USA. I found I was open to the comments of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King and his message to all America.  My studies led me to believe he was a man God, raised up to restore liberty and justice for all and with a non-violent platform.  His "I have a dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial moved me to tears even though I was still living in Canada. J. Edger Hoover was on my list of undesirables as he and the FBI hounded this good man for unfounded allegations.   Time and time again his Marches from Selma to Montgomery raised the hopes of good men.  I moved to Washington State in 1966 and Martin Luther King was assassinated  in 1968. By then I was completely in his camp and will remember the sickening feeling I had at the death of this Civil rights leader. Lesser men could not have endured the trials he was put through. I have often thought the only escape for such valuable men was their knowledge of truth and right as God helps them see the right.

A long  life may not be good enough but a  good life is  long enough. {unknown author}

Digby