Benevolence

I remember an elderly couple, the Masters, and their apartment across the street from my family's house in suburban Chicago. As a four or five year old girl growing up in the 1960's, I identified with an innocent era of community assurance. Neighbors were friends and respected figures of authority. Mr. and Mrs. Masters were a likewise praiseworthy couple in the glow of their eighties. The couple frequently strolled hand-in-hand through the neighborhood dressed as …

…was relatively brief, but the couple's generosity and regard for humanity remains impressed upon me for a lifetime. In tranquil 1960's suburbia, accusing or suspecting a neighbor of immorality was uncommon and scandalous. Present standards determine that it is sensible, but nonetheless disheartening, that children are cautioned to fear the benevolence of neighbors. Manipulative, unconscionable individuals tarnish the altruistic models I was fortunate to encounter as a child and grew to appreciate as an adult.