My Old High school...

what can i say about my high school years, except that for me they sucked. however, i would give anything to be able to go back and redo it, knowing what i know now, that is. i would of had self confidence and the strength to not care what others thought of me. i would of made more friends. i would have been more involved with sports. i might have even run for president of one of the commitees. yep, kids these days do not realize how important, and freeing the high school years are. i couldn't wait to be done. now i wish it would have lasted longer. you don't have to worry about bills, mortgages, health insurance or any other headache causing parts of being an adult. those were the days when all you had to do was keep up with your homework, maybe do some chores at the house.... or farm... work at the dairy queen... or the drive-in or A&W. you went to church every sunday. had a family meal afterwards. going out was comprised of visiting relatives and playing cards or going bowling, a movie or the drive-in... sometimes there were school dances... but there was nothing else. if you were lucky enough to live on a farm, you put in long days and went to bed with the chickens and got up at the crack of dawn to get chores done before school and do the same when you got home. come monday, it was back to school. friday night football games with bonfires and foodstands that sold homemade foods cuz women had the time to do that. we got out for the summer the end of june... and didnt go back until tuesday after labor day. summers seemed so long back then, didnt they? the malone fair arrived every august as a last big whoopteedoo before you went back to school. it was a main event, with tractor pulls, demolition derbys, rides, carnies that scared the kids and creeped out the moms, and country singers like loretta lynn and roy clark from heehaw. in those days the worst thing you could do is make out by the railroad tracks and have a couple of beers underage. the really cool kids smoked some weed but nothing stronger. no one locked their doors at night. you could roam the streets after dark without worrying about rape, murder, or robbery. it was safe then. the worst crimes were shoplifting, DUI's, speeding, fighting and being too drunk to be in public.

those clusters of trees behind my high school were called "the pinnicle" as that was where the smokers would go during lunch break to smoke. i had sex many times up in them there woods with my ex-husband.... the only thing we were afraid of was bears. there were paths ingrained into the ground from kids going up there. if you made it to the top, you could see for miles in the north country. absolutely beautiful, it was. i appreciate it more now than i did then. but i had it for a little while.. all of those things. just wish i could go back in time now, so i could really savor it, appreciate it, ya know? what is it about being a kid in a small town that drives you to move away, thinking you'd have it better if you lived in the big city...

the old high school still pretty much looks the same, with the exception of a few add-ons to the building. every one i knew back then, went to that high school. my ex-husband was a senior when i was a freshman. the woman he's married to now, was my friend and we hung out there. some daring kids would smoke in the bathroom and get away with it. there was no need for a police officer to be present on a daily basis. no one brought knives, guns, or bombs to school. it was just unheard of in those days. you could still pray in school, in fact it was encouraged whenever anything bad happened in the community and yes it was a public school. you started off your day in homeroom saying the pledge of allegience all together with the principle over the loud speaker. you had a full 40 minute lunch break. the teachers knew your family and you knew theirs. being a small town, everybody knew everybody and all their business too. i hated it back then but now i find comfort in that. the world seems so cold anymore. crime is everywhere. everybody hating eachother. fear to do normal everyday things because bad people are everywhere. high schools today are mini war zones just waiting to erupt into violence. you can have a neighbor who is a pedophile keeping young girls prisoner in the back yard, and not even know it. the kids cant play outside in their own yard without supervision for fear of kidnapping.. when i was growing up you would leave early in the morning and not come back home until just before dark... and parents didnt worry. now you can be sitting in a cafe' or farmer's market enjoying yourself when suddenly boom! a bomb goes off killing you and everyone around you. for no particular reason except hatred. you could hitchhike back then and actually arrive at your destination, now you'd be killed or worse and you'd be lucky if anyone ever discovered what happened to you...

yes. that is my old high school, Franklin Academy or FA for short. 

in malone, new york.

11 miles from the canadian border.

the good ole north country.

where i grew up.

memories, i have them-

regrets, i have a few...

crp