Really enjoy Shamarie Claiborne's photos and her writing! Hope she's writing a book. Reading this article gave me the gift of a clear picture of the little girl traveling the halls of our place of higher education, overhearing adult conversations and not being able to avoid those fears of childhood. I wonder if our children and grandchildren are hearing all the negative news of this day and creating escape plans in their own minds?

One of my favorite memories of a child's views of wartime was that of my sister-in-law Jean Cravens standing at the side of her father, E. P. Waggener, as he and neighbor Ralph Willis talked in hushed tones about the rolling local blackouts in WWII. Conversations shared and/or observed about war make for some serious growing-up. -Linda Waggener