I used to think about the amazing changes my grandparents lived through from horse buggies to automobiles, no electricity to computers, horrendous work hours to labor laws, but today I’m thinking about my mother and the amazing changes she has seen and experienced.
My mother has lived through every war since WWII. She watched her brother leave for foreign shores during WWII when he was drafted off their farm at age 18. She remembers clearly being in a swing with a friend when the friend’s mother called out their door to tell them the war was over. The relief was enormous, since her brother was in Germany at the time. Many local men did not survive that war, and her family already knew the loss of her mother’s brother during WWI.
Mom experienced food rationing and the relief when it was over. Although living on the farm gave her family the bonus of farm produced food while some people in towns went hungry when their ration book ran out before they could get another one. But they worked hard for their food. They worked spring through autumn, so they could survive the winters. Planting, maintaining, harvesting and preparing vegetables, fruit and meat for storage, chopping wood, milking cows twice a day, chasing pigs (she hated those pigs because they were always getting out of their pen, and it was her job to get them back in). The life was hard but satisfying in many ways. And now, she can sit back and have someone bring her groceries to her front door. Wow. How far we have come.
She has seen our country flourishing yet remembers the down times like the Great Depression and how wandering, homeless men were fed and housed in payment for helping out on the farm for a few days.
She’s seen famines, tornadoes and earthquakes rock our planet and cause devastation and how many people gathered or gave to ease it.
She lived through music culture changes from Perry Como and Elvis to hard rock and Rap and loved the majority of it. She’s walked the Mackinaw Bridge and seen pandemics and politics ravage the world and kill people she loved. She stood up for the downtrodden and helped many in need even though she herself did not have an overabundance. During the Vietnam war, she attended candlelight marches; the only war she protested visibly or on her knees at home.
She mourned with her husband and the nation when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and again when his brother Bobby was also assassinated. She was filled with hope when she had the honor of hearing Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, but again mourned when he also was assassinated for fighting for people’s rights.
Though America still has a long way to go, she has witnessed minority groups come far in every field including politics and the Supreme Court. During WWII, women held sway in the work force out of necessity, but it opened the door for women to break barriers, to achieve and excel thereafter – all the way to the White House. She watched sixteen presidents step up to the White House, including the first African American President, the first female candidate for president, and the first Vice President woman. History in the making.
My mom grew up with wood ranges, potbelly stoves and no running water. Iceboxes filled with ice from the local lake during the winters gave them some extra cash, but it was hard work and a far cry from our instant ice makers of today. There was electricity though, so when many of the modern-day conveniences and appliances came along, she was thrilled to take advantage of them. In particular, running water and central heat – no more outhouse runs in the dead of winter. (Thank God for Sears catalogs. It’s true – they were toilet paper once upon a time.)
She watched men land on the moon for the first time. She’s a brave soul but couldn’t conceive having the courage to get in that rocket. And her sense of wonderment mixed with fear in getting in rockets was horribly and sadly proven when she witnessed some die, including a high school teacher who was the first civilian put into space travel. And now, though not available to civilians as yet, space travel is as accepted as walking across the street.
History is events happening as time passes. In the world’s history as well as her personal history, there have been so many happenings in her lifetime, I couldn’t possibly put them all in a blog. In many of these examples, mom was living the history, participating in her level of it, not just watching from the sidelines. From a farm girl to a wife and mother of ten, artist, secretary, choir director, and so much more, my mother made a lot of history for her descendants and taught us the importance of our history. Her family and friends value her faith, courage and example. She’s no more perfect that you or I, but she’s lived and lived well. With a joyful and giving heart that's always welcomed anyone into the fold. And what a life it’s been! Wow. Thank you, mom.
Jump into our ongoing history and create a tale for your own family and friends. Maybe you make a small mark, maybe you make a huge mark; it doesn’t matter, just as long as you live. Live fully and love greatly, and you can settle into your retirement chair a fulfilled person...like my mother.
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