When I was a kid...

You know it is really cold outside. I was sitting here thinking of when I was a young boy. I lived in the westside of Chicago in a row house. It was built before 1900. It was old but it was home. Whenever it got cold like it is today, my window would get a sheet of ice on it. No, not only on the outside, also in the inside part of the glass. I remember sitting on the edge of my bed and with my fingernail, I would scratch my name and different pictures on the ice. It was a normal thing for me, this freezing of my window. I did not know this was happening because our windows were so old and in need of repair. It actually felt kind of cozy. Nothing could be seen from the outside or inside.

My mom would place towels or scraps of fabric to prevent the cold air from coming in. These would actually freeze in place. That is the way life was. I did not wish for something better, cause I did not know anyone who had it better. I guess I was naive. I did not mind living that way at all. As I said it was home.

Now that I am older, I wonder how many children this very day are living as I did. I wonder if there is a little boy or girl somewhere in this city scratching the ice from their windo? I am pretty sure that there are. But unlike me, they probably are aware that many have it much better than they do. This is sad in more ways than one. I recall those times as fond memories, while these children are viewing it as poverty. The more I think of it, the more I realize that it was the warmth of having a home with a mom and dad which made everything okay. I will never take for granted what I now have. I am a rich man when compared with those days. But believe me I would not trade those memories for the world. I am by no means a rich man by the world's standards, but by my standards I am.

May God bless all the children in the world, rich or poor...