Originally Posted by Don in Austin

Nobody DEFINED our family as dysfunctional -- or even used the word -- but it damn sure was. Much of the details are too gory to post, but my father was a tyrant. My mother was a brilliant medieval historian. There was a power struggle in the history department at Oberlin College and someone who opposed her invoked a sexist rule that "faculty wives can't teach," and expelled her from the department. She spent the last 10-15 years of her life in severe depression smoking 5 packs of Chesterfield non-filter Kings/day, playing Solitaire and frequently in her bed clothes until dinner time. The tobacco companies advertised with straight faces that smoking was good for you. Both my parents were Oberlin College "liberals" and very proud to be non-racist. What this meant was they detested the "N" word but didn't really want any "N"s at the house. They were extraordinarily snobbish about academic success as a measure of a person's worth. There was zero tolerance of gays or lesbians anywhere so they were forced underground. Our local schools blatantly violated the principle of separation of church and state. A friend of mine who was a jazz musician (black) got a white college student pregnant. She hid the pregnancy from everybody and, in desperation, put the baby in the garbage. There was plenty of drug addiction back then -- anybody remember Seconal? Doctors would pretty much give you all the amphetamines and barbituates you wanted. I used to ride my bike down Spring Street and it had well-maintained pavement and sidewalks -- until you crossed the Plum Creek Bridge. On the other side of the bridge it was all black families and the "streets" were unpaved with mudholes big and deep enough to go fishing in. This in a town (Oberlin, Ohio) that prided itself on being liberal and having a history of non-discrimination!

Nostalgia for that era is not very strong for me!

Don in Austin