I spent my formative years growing up in Kansas City, Missouri. One of the crown jewels of our city was the expansive and beautiful Swope Park. Not only did it feature our world-class zoo, but it also contained forests and hiking trails, family picnic spots, ball fields, and a nature center.
I spent many a day in this magnificent setting. I loved going to the zoo, though my opinion of caging animals has changed greatly since then. I spent hour upon hour traversing the landscape and I participated in a wide variety of youth sporting events within the boundaries of the park.
As my hair recedes and grays, I would like the chance to fondly remember this favorite haunt of my childhood, but something terrible happened at Swope Park and its memory in my mind is forever tarnished.
During my 7th or 8th grade year, a former classmate of mine, Margaret Titus, was brutally raped and murdered in one of the secluded parking areas. This singular event changed the way I view the world.
As an adult, I know that women are raped everyday. I also know that people kill other people with great frequency. It's hard to turn on the daily TV news for any metropolitan area and not hear of several murders that took place that day or the day before. Like it or not, violence is part of the fabric of our society.
But the very concepts of rape and murder are not -- at least they didn't use to be -- foremost in the minds of early adolescent children. While humans of this age are beginning to understand that the world isn't like Candyland or Mary Poppins, a certain degree of naivete still exists in large measure. To have to come face-to-face with some of the dastardly ugliness that permeates our civilization is like having a bucket of cold water thrown on you while sticking your finger in a light socket!!
It made many of us more fearful of the world. It made us less trusting and suspicious. It forced us to confront grown-up emotions with a grossly inadequate skill set. Most importantly, it marked a sudden and earth-shattering end to childhood.
I really wish I could skip down memory lane to remember all the family picnics I enjoyed in Swope Park. Unfortunately, the mere mention of its name makes me shudder. A young girl I knew met a grisly end in this idyllic setting...an end she did not deserve.
I spent many a day in this magnificent setting. I loved going to the zoo, though my opinion of caging animals has changed greatly since then. I spent hour upon hour traversing the landscape and I participated in a wide variety of youth sporting events within the boundaries of the park.
As my hair recedes and grays, I would like the chance to fondly remember this favorite haunt of my childhood, but something terrible happened at Swope Park and its memory in my mind is forever tarnished.
During my 7th or 8th grade year, a former classmate of mine, Margaret Titus, was brutally raped and murdered in one of the secluded parking areas. This singular event changed the way I view the world.
As an adult, I know that women are raped everyday. I also know that people kill other people with great frequency. It's hard to turn on the daily TV news for any metropolitan area and not hear of several murders that took place that day or the day before. Like it or not, violence is part of the fabric of our society.
But the very concepts of rape and murder are not -- at least they didn't use to be -- foremost in the minds of early adolescent children. While humans of this age are beginning to understand that the world isn't like Candyland or Mary Poppins, a certain degree of naivete still exists in large measure. To have to come face-to-face with some of the dastardly ugliness that permeates our civilization is like having a bucket of cold water thrown on you while sticking your finger in a light socket!!
It made many of us more fearful of the world. It made us less trusting and suspicious. It forced us to confront grown-up emotions with a grossly inadequate skill set. Most importantly, it marked a sudden and earth-shattering end to childhood.
I really wish I could skip down memory lane to remember all the family picnics I enjoyed in Swope Park. Unfortunately, the mere mention of its name makes me shudder. A young girl I knew met a grisly end in this idyllic setting...an end she did not deserve.
One of the first deaths I experienced was of a friend killed by a drunk driver, right next to the park, also in eighth grade. I had to call my best friend and tell her about it. The family planted a tree in the park. Another friend was also molested in the park not long before that. So yes, I experienced that loss of innocence and the change in how I felt about the park too.
ReplyDeleteBut later on, the park was redeemed for me -- my first love was a lifeguard at the park pool, and I would go swing on the swingsets and watch him there, or go visit him at the pool (but not distract him from his job too much!) So, the park came back to life for me, and the bad memories, while still bad, no longer colored my experience of the park.
There is always potential for change...
this is a sad story. it's deplorable that some human beings act like those people did. when i was younger i also thought that nothing bad would happen to me because "the government wouldn't let bad things happen to americans"! well 9/11 got rid of THAT belief very quickly. (i was 12 at the time) however i mourn those children who had to find out, firsthand at a very early age, that the world is not a safe place.
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