You know, C, I raised two sons, for most of those years on my own. I tried to make sure that they'd have a ton of great memories to carry with them, because there were other aspects of our life that were very destructive and stressful. My Mother has always said that life is making memories, so you should make the best ones you can. I really believe that. And things WERE different in the 40's and 50's. I grew up in a house that was never locked, never broken in to. We could lock the front door if we were so inclined, but you could buy a "skeleton" key at the "dime" store that would open almost every front door in town.

A year and a half ago, we moved to Derby, CT and felt like we'd come back to the 50's. Everyone watches out for everyone else in the neighborhood, and a single woman can go walking in the dark (and they do) and feel safe. It's a good feeling. I haven't experienced that since I moved away from my home town in the early 60's. Everything ISN'T the same. There are sections of town here that aren't as safe (and we do lock our doors.) Who knows, C, maybe it's all to sell security systems. A week rarely passes without someone trying to sell us one, despite there not having been any break-ins in the area we live in in anyone's memories, and many neighbors have lived here for forty years or more. That's bad for business. Maybe the burglars should be under contract to the security companies to hit up a couple of houses in neighborhoods like ours, just to create a demand for security systems.. :-)

Jerry