I’m not really sure where this post is coming from. Thoughts have just been tumbling around in my
brain for a while, and I thought it would be good to get them out and perhaps
share with someone. I don’t even know
where this thought process started. Somehow,
it led to this statement and a question.
When were the good ol’ days, really?
I can’t help but think of this lady.
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| My Granny with her big sister, Doris, as a little girl. |
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| My Granny with her sweet, adoring husband on the farm they called home. |
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| Granny holding my firstborn son the year that she turned 90 and then passed away. |
She’s my Granny. I am
sure I heard this saying the most from her when she talked of life when she was
younger. She was born in 1917 and lived
to the ripe old age of 90. She was one
tough cookie who enjoyed life right to the end.
She would describe her childhood growing up on a farm in good ol’
Eastern NC as the good ol’ days and described memories of sitting out in her
yard with her family in the evenings (hard packed dirt and not the lush green grass we have become accustomed
to…and quite frankly spend a lot of money to maintain). Chickens ran free in the yard. You could actually see them under the house through the planks in the floors. She wore sack cloth dresses and went barefoot
with all of her siblings. They lived on
a farm. She learned to work hard from
the earliest age. They were “dirt”
poor. Does this sound like the good ol’
days to anyone? I guess times were
simpler, and they just appreciated the little things more. Time with family and friends was
precious. Maybe it was the food? Boy, could that lady cook! Homemade everything…most of it grown or
raised on the very farm on which they lived (oh and they didn’t worry too much
about cancer back then either…I wonder why?).
I used to love watching her wrinkled and sun-splotched hands work a bowl
of flour and buttermilk to make the most delicious biscuits. I really wish I had learned to do that. She described the period she grew up in as
the good ol’ days. The 1920s and
30s! Really?
Didn’t we learn in History class about the dreadful Great Depression? And the two World Wars that followed? People were poor, unemployed, and
starving. That doesn’t sound very good
to me. I guess her family was already so
poor and thrived mostly off what they grew and raised themselves so the Great
Depression really did not reach their little corner of the world. Sometimes, I wish I could have lived in these
simpler times where time seemed to pass a little slower.
BUT…
Then, I think of the opportunities I have; that my children
have. Sure, we are always busy. But mostly, I think we are busy because of
the choices we make in how we live our lives.
We don’t have to spend every hour of every day working just to provide
for our basic needs. We read for fun,
play sports, watch television shows that are often mindless and just plain
dumb, go to school to better ourselves and hopefully move up in the world, and
just fill our spare time with whatever extracurricular activities we
choose. Sure, we work but not just to
feed our families. The American Dream
used to be two acres and a mule. Now,
its two acres; a big house; maybe another house in some vacation mecca; a
couple of expensive cars in the driveway; a closet full of expensive clothes,
shoes, and accessories; traveling; early retirement; and maybe after all that’s
accomplished we marry that showcase perfect husband or wife and have a couple
of kids (in my area, its three or four kids).
I guess I wonder a lot about where the appreciation for life’s simpler
pleasures went. The media doesn’t help
much with that.
I love the opportunities that I have for my children today,
but what does it really cost us? I want my
children to grow up to be successful in life, but I mostly want them to be kind
and caring individuals who know how to appreciate the treasures of home,
family, and memories shared together. I
think everyone who chooses to become parents has a goal in mind as to what kind
of parent they want to be and what they want to give their children. When my husband and I decided it was time to
have children, we discussed our goals. I
explained that my main goal was to give my children a childhood that would be
so packed with wonderful and fun memories that it would follow them for the
rest of their lives. I guess what I
really wanted for them was for them to be like my Granny. When they grow up, I want them to say “Those
were the good ol’ days!” When they look
back on this time, I don’t want them to remember the great financial crisis and
struggles that threatened the country or the constant stream of sad and
terrible newsworthy events. I just want
them to remember happier and “simpler” times!
