94 years - The Passing of a Lifetime
Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:46 am
After a long 94 years, sometime this month, my only surviving grandparent will finally rest... So far, all i know is that her blood pressure is basically immeasurable and that it really is only her pacemaker that is keeping her alive... She managed to hang on long enough to see pictures of her newest great grandson last week before she started slipping down hill...
My only regret is that i didnt have the presence of mind to sit down and talk with her about her past when she was at an age where she could have had rational conversations about it.
she was born in 1914, a mere 5 months after an assassins bullet started what would become one of the most futile displays of human barbarism in all of mankind's history.
When she was born, cars were still new inventions, air travel was almost unheard of, indoor plumbing and electricity was rare in most of the homes of the rural south.
Imagine if you will, seeing with your own eyes the newspaper headlines from the last 94 years?
the horror of reading about Pearl Harbor, watching your brothers and neighbors and your spouse go off to war, some to come back severely scarred...
the amazement of the first time having a working toilet in your house... having electricity in your house for the first time... seeing a television for the first time... flying in an airplane for the first time... seeing man walk on the moon... and countless other events that mush have been staggering to witness...
I can only hope that her life made many other's lives better... i know that she did for me... truly, the world will be worse off without her around... but thankfully, her pain will soon be over and she will be going home.
if any of you have older relatives, take some time to go and just talk with them... ask the about their past... it might not be much longer before they are unable to tell their tales... dont wait until it is too late to find out about all the wonderful things that your ancestors did and saw.
My only regret is that i didnt have the presence of mind to sit down and talk with her about her past when she was at an age where she could have had rational conversations about it.
she was born in 1914, a mere 5 months after an assassins bullet started what would become one of the most futile displays of human barbarism in all of mankind's history.
When she was born, cars were still new inventions, air travel was almost unheard of, indoor plumbing and electricity was rare in most of the homes of the rural south.
Imagine if you will, seeing with your own eyes the newspaper headlines from the last 94 years?
the horror of reading about Pearl Harbor, watching your brothers and neighbors and your spouse go off to war, some to come back severely scarred...
the amazement of the first time having a working toilet in your house... having electricity in your house for the first time... seeing a television for the first time... flying in an airplane for the first time... seeing man walk on the moon... and countless other events that mush have been staggering to witness...
I can only hope that her life made many other's lives better... i know that she did for me... truly, the world will be worse off without her around... but thankfully, her pain will soon be over and she will be going home.
if any of you have older relatives, take some time to go and just talk with them... ask the about their past... it might not be much longer before they are unable to tell their tales... dont wait until it is too late to find out about all the wonderful things that your ancestors did and saw.