Teenagers are the Same No Matter What Era

Another day has passed as I drive down the winding mountain road to the hospital. When I think about the fact that my mother who is approaching ninety was once a teen. I also think of the parents of today who are scared witless not knowing what their teens are doing behind their backs. Having a child turned into a teen is a scary proposition. I know first hand because I have experienced the teenage years as a Mom three times. You want to trust your children because they are approaching adulthood, yet there is always this little demon in your head telling you that you have to be worried or else you are a bad parent. Fortunately for their parents, the teens return unscathed from their mostly secret escapades. Truthfully and thankfully, I did not learn about some of my children's teen hair brained activities until they had moved out of the house years later.

And yet, all parents should take comfort in the fact that teens throughout history having been sneaking around behind their parents' backs. Since I have traveled this route so many times I submit to a self imposed auto pilot and I return to thinking about Mom and the one thing that I know that happened when she was a teen.. One day my own sweet Mother and her sister had a great adventure in the Berkeley hills with their father's brand new car. It is so hard to think of someone who has been my elder all my life as teen, but she managed to survive the silly teen exploits that were often cooked up and carried out by my Aunt. My Aunt was two years younger than Mom and the most daring of the two. When their parents were out of town on vacation my Aunt suggested that they take the new family car out for a spin in the hills. I guess it did not really matter that neither one of them had a license or knew how to drive. Well, of course, my Aunt took the wheel and they made it from Oakland to Berkley without smashing the car. It was a MIRACLE!

The day was warm and the scenery was breathtaking. Emboldened with her new found skills, my Aunt decided to drive around Tilden Park. The park area is known for winding roads that can be narrow at times when all of a sudden as they were riding uphill and a truck decided to pass something disastrous happened. At that moment, the car door flew open and the truck ripped the car door off their Daddy's prized possession. In shock, while at the same time not wanting their to father find out any of the details, they assured the truck driver that they would take care of everything. Then my Aunt had to hatch up another plan in a hurry. They both knew a friend of their father's who would not spill the beans about what had happened. My Mother, because she was older placed a phone call to him explaining what had happened. He rushed to meet them in the hills and promised that the car would be as good as new and back in the family garage before their parents returned. He kept his word. The car was repaired and placed carefully in the garage. My Mom and Aunt were relieved that all ended well and that their Father never found out about their fantastic journey in the park. A least they thought so!