Illustrations Like These Always Sadden Me, Awe Me With Their Beauty, And Make Me Yearn For The Security Of Childhood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           Yes, darlings, there was a time when I might have been one of those children in this drawing.  At sadder times, I often yearn for the security I took for granted when I was a child.  Before I reached adolescence, when I could not wait to get to adulthood, and now, having been there almost forty years, am wondering, "What was all the rush?"

                                              I remember being comforted by the jar of Mother's Oats, where the child was being fed oats by his mother.  I always made sure my mother bought that item, because of the drawing.  Now, Mother's Oats does not even exist.

                                                 Of course, I cannot speak for all.  But save for health issues I tried not to let deter me; my childhood was pretty good.  So much so I often wish I could go back.  Like in "Our Town."

                                                    Are there things I might have done differently?  Many.

                                                    I appreciated what I had, then, and even more so now.

                                                      No wonder I am drawn to Victorian literature and art.  They draw me back to a past which I might sugar coat, but still wish I could have been a part of.

                                                        To paraphrase Blanche Du Bois, "charm is fifty percent illusion."