Lately, I have been dealing a lot with my childhood. In the process, a lot of things that had been buried a bit in recent years have come to the surface again. That was partly difficult, painful, upsetting, also healing. It all fed into my new art series "Cracked."
But not all memories were like that. The 70s, they were orange and brown. Pablo Neruda received the Nobel Prize for Literature, bell-bottoms and platform shoes were part of everyday life.
I remember we were already on our way home when Gabi - a friend - wondered how high she could climb up the poplar. It was a rather large poplar, certainly 25 meters high. And Gabi had almost reached the crown when a branch broke under her. She fell into the depths. But halfway down, the back of her knee caught on a thicker branch. A bit shaky, she climbed down the rest. Phew ...
After the first moment of shock, everything was ok again for us, nothing special. I don't think any of us ever told our parents about it. When I think about it today, it gives me the creeps. What could not have happened? But that's how it was back then. We tested ourselves, we took risks. Those were our adventures. And actually everything always went well.
Childhood in the 70s
We were a bunch of 20 to 30 kids in the neighborhood. We simply arranged to meet on the corner. When we were done with our homework, we'd meet there. And if you didn't want to come, you didn't come. Nevertheless, there were always enough of us for street games like "mother-mother-we-have-knotted", "catch" or "hide and seek". The adults let us run, they knew everyone felt a sense of responsibility. If something was wrong, there was always someone - mothers, fathers or grandparents - to go to.
Most of the time, however, we didn't show our faces at home until it got dark. Our radius was much larger than that of children today. We roamed the area, built wooden huts and bet on who could jump over the brook at the widest point. In the evening we came home filthy, but satisfied and exhausted.
The '70s were a wonderful time to grow up.
What was it like for you? In which decade did you experience your childhood? What was typical of that time? Write me in the comments, I'm very curious.
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