My Flower Child

I was a teenager in the 1960s, a space and time that evokes images of long-haired, radical-looking young people who seemed to want a society based on freedom, love and peace. It was a turbulent time in history filled with racial prejudices, warfare and political tension. It was the era of the “flower children.” By definition, a flower child was a hippie, one advocating universal peace and love as an antidote to social or political problems. Flower children typically wore flowers in their hair and distributed flowers or floral decorations to symbolize altruistic ideals of universal brotherhood. The hippie culture also provided many young people a way to reject conformity, escaping from what they considered the ills of our society and government. Flower children smiled, danced and seemingly loved everyone. They were high on “Mother Nature” and often high on mind altering psychedelic drugs, promoting free love as a lifestyle.

I was NOT a typical flower child as defined, only guilty of living in an era that has now become personified by it’s flower power! Flower power dictated the fashion of my teenage years. My little crowd of friends DIDN’T wear flowers in their hair, as the 1967 song, “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair),” by the Mama and the Papas suggested. We also didn't dress in secondhand clothing, purchased from thrift and army surplus stores. We DID however, wear ponchos, bell bottoms (sometimes decorated with patches and embroidery), tie-dyed shirts, leather sandals, and brightly colored fabrics with intricate patterns. I even had one of the controversial “grannie gowns,” long dresses made of small flowered print. School officials banned theses dresses along with the other extreme of very short mini skirts, citing unnecessary attention taken away from our academic education! Humorously my friends and I also spoke with an occasional hippie phrase such as, “Groovy man,” “Cool it,” or “Right on,” which meant, “I like it,” “Calm down,” and “I agree,” respectively. Today all three of these expressions can be conveyed by the phrase, “Shut-up,” a word formerly used to mean “Be quiet!” Delivery of meaning depends on the tone of voice used and the emphasis placed on the individual syllables.

The word hippie is derived from the word “hipster,” meaning one who is hip or keenly aware of the latest trends or developments. In this sense, today’s modern generation could also be termed “hippies,” as they are technologically advanced and extremely conscious of todays new scientific equipment. It was only recently that I discovered I had given birth to my own little 90s flower child, three decades after the original flower child generation!

My youngest daughter, Kenzi, is literally a flower child. She is not a 60s, pill popping, radical extremist. She is a 90s child of love who has a connection with the beauty of nature and a particular love of God’s graceful flowers. I love this about her.

A little over a week ago our daughters, Aleesha and Kenzi, took a road trip together to see an outdoor production of “Footloose” at Tuacahn in St. George, Utah. They also saw several fun plays at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, Utah. Their grandparents and aunt and uncle live in St. George, so it was a chance to visit relatives as well. The girls had a great time. Our techie, camera carrying, Kenzi, came home with a ton of pictures! She proudly displayed the contents of her trip on the television screen for all to see. There were close-up pictures of various colors and varieties of flowers, large sprawling palm trees, trees adorned with paper lanterns, trees adorned with lights that projected on the outdoor stage, very “hot” actors on the outdoor stage (and I don’t mean sweaty), and more flowers. Did I mention flowers? There were tons of pictures of flowers, close up and personal!

My Kenzi is an artist, artistically minded and has a love affair with nature. She is our own beautiful little flower child! I teased her that if it hadn’t been for the pictures taken of her jumping into her Aunt Vicki’s swimming pool and the picture of her kissing the statue of Shakespeare, there would have been no pictures documenting that she had been an actual participant on her summer vacation! No pictures of grandma and grandpa! Nothing of Aunt Vicki! Lot’s and lots, and LOT’S of flowers though! In this she takes after her parents, as we have become famous for our people lacking vacation photos of sunsets and waterfalls!

When questioned about her lack of “people” pics? Humorously, Kenzi said, “Oh, I wouldn't have thought of it!” I can “dig it man!”