Will You Walk to the Gulag?

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Will-You-Walk-to-the-Gulag-by-David-Glenn-Cox-110312-997.html

:snip:

I walked the halls of yet one more empty house yesterday. My voice echoed through the empty rooms, the bright paint and modern fixtures made me think of those who once lived here. I could hear their children's small voices getting ready to catch the school bus in the morning and I could smell dinner cooking in the sparkling white kitchen and I could still feel the warmth that once resided there.

A sticker placed on the front door by the automatons from the bank told of another story. A story of to big to fail and too weak to stand, of a family sandwiched in between until all of the love was squeezed and wrung out. Left like an empty wrapper and tossed aside in the garbage.

They left with what they could carry and they left behind the painful memories of what was and what is and what is going to become of them. On a bedroom door was a sign, written in a childish scrawl, "No girls allowed in my room, except my Mom!" The child understands possession and space and privacy but he doesn't understand mortgage instruments or financial necessities.

How do you explain to small children about losing a home? How do you explain why daddy isn't come along? How do you explain why so many of their toys must be left behind? How do you explain why the new place is so small and isn't as nice as the old place? What does it mean when a generation of children grow up without a real home?

More at the link --