Forward:

I don't read "forwards".
"FWD:" emails equal "delete" to me.
And from strangers, never...
But...
One of my most beloved people,
my friend Constance,
sent me this forward last week,
which I uncharacteristically read
because I love Constance,
and Connie doesn't "forward",
and it has stuck with me.
I keep thinking about it
and it makes me smile.
So... hypocritically,
here is a forward I got from my
friend Connie:
--------------------------------------
WE'RE STILL HERE:
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!
(author unknown)

First, we survived being born to mothers who
smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were
covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes,
we had no helmets, not to mention,
the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children,
we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day
was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and
drank soda pop with sugar in it, but
we weren't overweight because
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
as long as we were back
when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts
out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.
After running into the
bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes,
no video games at all,
no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies,
no surround sound, no cell
phones, no personal computers,
no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and
although we were told it would happen,
we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone
made the team. Those who didn't
had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced
some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers
and inventors ever!

The past 50 years
have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this
with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids,
before the lawyers and the government
regulated our lives for our own good.

and while you are at it,
forward it to your kids
so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to
run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

- author unknown