Her Generation

Can you imagine being born in the year 1923 – where your home had no electricity or indoor plumbing – and living until 2009? I believe no other generation of human beings has lived through so much progress and change as my Grandmother’s generation. My mind marvels to think of her life with horse and buggies and Model A automobiles transitioning in 86 years to a world filled with every minute airline travel, space stations, and submarines diving toward the ocean floor.

How do those from that generation comprehend the cell phone, fax machine, Internet and e-mail when many of them lived without even a rotary dial telephone? It must be unbelievable for those who often had to walk for miles to reach a general store to consider the fact that they now can literally stay at home and order anything and everything that they might need with online shopping. What progress! Or is it progress at all?

In the midst of seeming progress, families have become scattered around the world instead of living on the next dirt road. Text messaging and e-mail have eliminated hearing the voice of a loved one in person or on the telephone. Mailboxes sit void of handwritten letters and sentimental cards as computer inboxes fill to capacity. Neighbors don’t visit from their front porches and borrow a cup of flour from each other nearly as much as they did in the early 1900’s.

At our birthday dinner with my Grandma, we discussed all that her life span had enabled her to experience. She commented on something that forced me to pause and to reflect later that evening. She reflected that while her generation might not have been the discoverers of this technology, their hard work helped form the foundation for these advancements. Had they not pushed and shoved their ways through the Great Depression, what would have happened to our nation? What if brave men and women would not have fought to defend our country through numerous wars, what would have happened to our nation? Truly, their generation’s contributions were as beneficial to our nation as those technological advances that my children’s generation will contribute to mankind. Happy 86th Birthday, Grandma.