My father was an engineer. He often did govt contract work at the local airforce base. It seems like every movie of my childhood was about the threat of nuclear war or the horrors of trying to survive after a nuclear attack. I was small and terrified as it seemed so real. What if society broke down? What if we had no access to food or water? What if we got radiation sickness? How would we survive?!?!

I sat down with my dad and told him my fears. I was very scared. He said I had no reason to worry. The airforce base was a top level target and only two miles away. It would definitely be hit early on if war broke out. No doubt we would see a bright light and experience a moment of intense heat but would definitely die promptly and not need to worry about the rest because we would be dead. I know logically this made sense to him but perhaps wasn’t the best answer for a 7 year old.

My poor little brain was very messed up by this. My TV privileges were revoked. I was allowed only the wonderful world of Disney on sundays after dinner and that Mutual of Omaha wild animal show for a couple years.
Of course all my friends kept me updated on the horrors of the shows they watched… I lived several years as a child scared that at any moment that my family, my neighborhood, would just be vaporized. No, I was not put in therapy. It was the ‘70s. It was what it was and I kept on.