The house was big and beautiful and nothing like we had
ever experienced and lived before. The children emerged from the car and ran
towards their new and gorgeous home with glee.
My wife and I railed at their excitement. Actually we were all excited
with giggles about our new home. And it was about time, that I finally owned
something that no one could take away from me. It was located in South
Peterson, Illinois, with a population of only a few thousand. We wanted to get
away as far as we could from Chicago. This was a suburb where nothing exciting
ever happened and after Chicago, that was the way we wanted it to be. It had
everything but the white picket fence out front. We could always erect one
later. My wife, Lisa Thurman and I, Mark Thurman had pooled our hard earned
resources over number of years along with some long term savings to buy this
house that could be best described as being out in the middle of no where,
however, we loved it. It was a wonderful
ranch style home, however, without the horses.
This was a single family home of about two thousand and four hundred
square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The exterior included a two car garage and a
fantastic driveway. No more of living on top of and right next to rowdy and
noisy neighbors. Wooden and pine oaked floors almost in every room of the house.
The interior could only be explained as immaculate. There
was central air, a fireplace, glossy hardwood and tiled floors even in the
bathroom. We loved it. The furniture had arrived about an hour ago before we
had come. As mentioned, our children Amy eleven and Jeffery twelve, quickly
darted and ran to claim their rooms which were located on the second floor of
our new home. Once inside, I immediately claimed the den. My wife was sold on
the spacious bedrooms. I had been recently promoted at the employment agency
where I worked now as an assistant district manager. My wife Lisa was a Chicago
Public School teacher and she was pulling down the big bucks. So, therefore, we
would have no problems paying the monthly high mortgage as long as they did not
lay her off as was being talked about. I was the district manager of Shelby’s
Park District. As a family, we were all
smiles.
The city life had really taken its toll my wife and I. We
wanted a safe place for our children to play and grow up and to have good and
solid friends. We all knew that there was no real escape from crime and that it
could hit anywhere, anytime, and anyone.
However, we knew that in South Peterson, Illinois deadly crime was not
an everyday occurrence. After a few weeks, as the family had become so attached
to the house it was so unbelievable. I could not wait to get our children out
of public schools, in my view; they have become some of the worse in the
nation. With all the noise locally and nationally, I knew that I wanted my kids
in a safer neighborhood and a school where they could learn without the media
sticking a microphone up in their young faces. I believe we had found that.
My wife and I always enjoyed a clean house, and this house
deserved nothing less. She had learned it from her parents, and so did I learn
from my own, parents. After a few weeks, Amy’s room could have stood some
improving; however, on the other hand, Jeffery’s room was always a colossal
mess. His clothes were hanging half way out of his dresser drawers. Half eaten
hamburger sandwiches and French fries were located way under his bed now with
mold. His rotting manure was slimed upside the walls. Urine covered the
beddings. We figured with plenty of input coated with immense threats from the
both of us, would do the trick. We
wanted the entire house to be one as it pertains to cleanliness. This was going
to be hard work for my little Jeffery.
This was the life. We had a nice car, a house,
lovely children, and we were finally away from Chicago, a beautiful city but
just not for my family. On this wonderful Saturday morning I wanted to step out
and see the neighborhood and try and meet some of our new neighbors. I’m sure
that someone saw us moving into the house. However, they did not bother to come
over and introduce themselves. I finally had a real house to call home. It was
exciting, my wife and I had worked very hard for this day. As I walked around,
Peterson, Illinois, it was a very quiet place not many people were out and...
www.amazon.com/author/gwilder
What is it going to take for us to stand up and say enough to this internal gun war of American against American? What is it going to take to create a mental health system that prevents such tragedies from happening over and over? What is it going to take for us to pass and enforce adequate gun safety laws? What is it going to take to love and protect human life, especially children more than guns? Is the doctor right that this is not America? Or is she calling for the America we must create together with urgency and persistence?
