A few more paragraphs from Chapter One: Remembering (page 10-11).

     Now, I must admit that in general I am an optimistic person and try in my own way to think of solutions to problems that will have a positive conclusion. No, unfortunately I do not always succeed, but at least I try to give it my best shot.
     Whenever I do not succeed it just makes me try harder and harder until I do. Defeat never has been an option.
     In general I tend to always focus my sights on the future, no matter how distasteful something may be.
     When problems arise, the best way to handle them is to face them head on. Any other attitude would mean defeat, but once in a while I guess it is okay to look back too. After all, isn't that the way history works?
     Don't we look back to see how something was handled? If we do not agree with the way a given situation was handled, don't we then try to look for a more positive solution? We all learn from past events so that hopefully we can prevent them from happening again, right?
     As a young child growing up I sometimes would wonder what life will be like when I grew up. Now that I have grown up I am not too sure I like what I see.
     Life, looking back was so much simpler and yes, it was a much simpler and slower pace. I could walk to school with my friends and dance, play and jump in puddles if I wanted to along the way and it was okay. Sometimes I would even stop and just sit on the grass for just a little while so that I could look up at the tall trees and all the fluffy clouds in the sky before getting on my way and that was okay too!
     It did not matter what the weather was because walking was the way to go. There were school busses, but I was always just a hair line out of the regulated distance. Yes, imagine that, I walked to and from school.
     We did not have the lusury of soccer moms when I was attending school. Most of us thought we were pretty fortunate to have even one car to drive in the family. Guess who the car was for? Dad of course, to provide him with the lusury of driving to and from work.
     Unlike the children of today, when I attended school everyone was always dressed. You were not expected to wear your "Sunday best" clothing, but you certainly did not wear pants. There was no tolerance for girls attending school in pants or shorts. Why it was absolutely unheard of. You wore skirts, jumpers or dresses only and no sneakers either. Shoes were all that was acceptable, anything else you would be sent home for being dressed improperly.
     The boys had to wear dress pants, sports jackets, sweaters and on special day's shirt, tie, suit and dress shoes. They were not given any chances either.
     Maybe, as I look back on it, some of the rules were on the stricter side. However, I found that having to be dressed also put us in a better mind set. We were more respectful of ourselves and of those around us.
     This was the law of the land for a very, very long time. One day everything changed and the long standing laws were relaxed. Guess someone saw the light so to speak and the laws were changed to be much more accommodating to everyone.