(no subject)
I was going through some of my old emails that I hadn't read. It used to be that people would send me a lot of Forwards, and I just didn't have time to read them in those days. Plus, most of them weren't worth reading. A few people were pretty good about sending me those that really had meaning or were the type of humor they knew I liked so I never deleted the ones I got from them, intending to read them later. I came upon one that really got me thinking about the list of things that was in it. The first item on this list was: I've learned... the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
How true this could be. I never knew my grandfathers, so during my childhood the only elderly people I knew were my grandmothers. But, alas, I was so shy I never got close to either of them. But as Mom has aged, she had started talking more and more about her past, and their way of life back in the day. I'm old enough of course, to know that there were days when people had no indoor toilet, and that they had blocks of ice delivered for the icebox to keep their food cold. And while I'm sure young people today know there was a time when there was no indoor toilet (after all, there are still outhouses around), I'd bet there are a whole slew of them who think that we went from no refrigerators at all to 'modern' day refrigerators, with no in-between. Anyway, while I pretty much knew how life was in those days 'before me', I've wracked my brain trying to think of what I've learned from Mom. And all I can come up with is, to be polite, share and be responsible. She was a good example when it came to paying bills. Though as an adult, I can now see that was the extent of her financial responsibility. She's never been a saver for the future or worst case scenario, but would fritter her extra money away on junk things from junk catalogs. (Listen to me, the financially responsible person who just bought a Kindle. Hee!)
But boy oh boy does she have the childhood stories. When she started telling them to me, I thought "Someone should write these down!" Of course, now she has a hard time remembering what she's told me, so she keeps telling them again and again. Sometimes I think if I hear it one more time I will scream. But that's the way it goes as you age. You remember way back when but can't remember the recent stuff. Sadly that seems to be my case now too. But my brain fog is more from fatigue and dehydration than anything else. I see a marked improvement in my memory when I get enough liquids and more sleep.
But I hope that people take any opportunity they can get to listen to those older people around us. Those stories give us a peek into a simpler time with simpler pleasures. It sure makes me want to go back to the type of life of my own childhood, when you knew every neighbor in the neighborhood. You knocked on their door, opened it, stuck your head in and yelled 'yoo-hoo!'. We kids could play in the street for hours without having to move for traffic. There were woods nearby that we explored. They are gone now, houses in their place, with only a line of trees left. No amount of money would have me wanting to go back to my childhood, but I sure would like to go back as an adult.
But then I wouldn't have computers, tablets and DVD's would I?.
How true this could be. I never knew my grandfathers, so during my childhood the only elderly people I knew were my grandmothers. But, alas, I was so shy I never got close to either of them. But as Mom has aged, she had started talking more and more about her past, and their way of life back in the day. I'm old enough of course, to know that there were days when people had no indoor toilet, and that they had blocks of ice delivered for the icebox to keep their food cold. And while I'm sure young people today know there was a time when there was no indoor toilet (after all, there are still outhouses around), I'd bet there are a whole slew of them who think that we went from no refrigerators at all to 'modern' day refrigerators, with no in-between. Anyway, while I pretty much knew how life was in those days 'before me', I've wracked my brain trying to think of what I've learned from Mom. And all I can come up with is, to be polite, share and be responsible. She was a good example when it came to paying bills. Though as an adult, I can now see that was the extent of her financial responsibility. She's never been a saver for the future or worst case scenario, but would fritter her extra money away on junk things from junk catalogs. (Listen to me, the financially responsible person who just bought a Kindle. Hee!)
But boy oh boy does she have the childhood stories. When she started telling them to me, I thought "Someone should write these down!" Of course, now she has a hard time remembering what she's told me, so she keeps telling them again and again. Sometimes I think if I hear it one more time I will scream. But that's the way it goes as you age. You remember way back when but can't remember the recent stuff. Sadly that seems to be my case now too. But my brain fog is more from fatigue and dehydration than anything else. I see a marked improvement in my memory when I get enough liquids and more sleep.
But I hope that people take any opportunity they can get to listen to those older people around us. Those stories give us a peek into a simpler time with simpler pleasures. It sure makes me want to go back to the type of life of my own childhood, when you knew every neighbor in the neighborhood. You knocked on their door, opened it, stuck your head in and yelled 'yoo-hoo!'. We kids could play in the street for hours without having to move for traffic. There were woods nearby that we explored. They are gone now, houses in their place, with only a line of trees left. No amount of money would have me wanting to go back to my childhood, but I sure would like to go back as an adult.
But then I wouldn't have computers, tablets and DVD's would I?.