Woodstock

I was watching the movie Woodstock the other day and remembered just how different the 60's were and are from any generation before or since. During the 60's for the first time kids came out from the shadows of their parents. They voiced their own opinions and changed the landscape of our society forever.

I grew up on the fringe of the 60's. I was in 8th grade during Woodstock. Old enough to want to go, but young enough where I couldn't swing it. That didn't stop me from getting caught up in the movement, though. I fought the fight to wear blue jeans with my parents. Yes, there was a time you had to fight to wear jeans. In high school my hair started growing long and kept getting longer until I graduated from college and had to get a job. During junior college, I was the editor of the college paper and we stirred up enough dirt to cause quite a stir throughout the community.

Besides the clothes and hair styles of the era, the music took a dramatic turn from where it was previously. Yes there was rock and roll before the 60's, but with the changing values of that generation and the discontent with the war in Vietnam, for the first time rock music was written with passion about real issues. There were songs like Ohio about the murders at Kent State. Funny thing is my daughter wants to go to Kent State, likes the song Ohio and has no idea of what happened there.

All was not good during that generation, though. Protests against the war and racism often times went too far. I went to Northern Illinois University. I remember the first time I saw the campus. Windows were boarded up and protest signs were everywhere. During the summer, protesters were always starting fires. I don't remember a summer that went by without news of major fires in Detroit.

Overall, it was a good time to grow up. We still had the close knit family from the 50's which helped keep us grounded. We also lived in a time where the world was changing and dragging us along for the ride. To steal a line from a great author...it was the best of times and the worst of times.