April 16, 2005
Changes
My Grandma was born in 1909. That is 95 years ago for you fellow history majors.When she was born, she had no electricity or telephone. There was no radio or television. People sent telegrams by Morse code if they wanted to communicate over long distances.
In her rural Indiana life a car was a rare sight indeed. Airplanes?, why the Wright brothers just flew a few years before. He father plowed their meager farm with a horse. She saw the childhood diseases that claimed her sister and her friends eradicated.
In her life my grandma saw not only the marvels I listed above, but two world wars. The rise and fall of communist Russia. Men going to space and the moon. She walked the Earth with Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. She saw computers and talking pictures and cars going more than 200 MPH at Indy. She saw airplanes and jets change the way we traveled and opened up the world.
Her Grandfather fought in the Civil War. Her husband fought in WWII. Her Great Grandchildren were alive to see terrorist scum attack our nation on September 11.
My grandmother saw technological and societal changes and upheavals never before seen in the history of man.
What a life she led. What a time she lived.
My Grandma died today. I already miss her.
Say a prayer for her tonight.
We just keep missing them, don't we?
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Joe. My condolences to you.
My thoughts are with you. My grandma lived to be 94 and the stories she could tell. She's been gone 20 years and she still can bring a smile to my face.
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