Happy Birthday, Grandma!
My grandma turns 91 today.
Ninety One.
Just think about how much has changed in 91 years. Every single piece of technology that is being used for me to create this blog post, and for you to consume it…not a single one of them existed then.
There were no phones, smart or otherwise, no cars, no NFL, no…I wonder if they had radio in 1919? Sure, they must of had radio. Yes, absolutely they did. But they didn’t have all these fancy kitchen appliances or fancy automobiles.
And, as far as I can tell from TV (which they didn’t have back then either) all their clothes were shades of grey. Can you imagine that? My grandma didn’t even have color!
Awhile ago I asked my grandma about The Great Depression and she said, “well, it didn’t seem as bad as it does now because nobody had as much of anything back then”.
More recently, she told me that her grandfather (my great, great grandfather) had a men’s clothing store. I did not know that. When I asked what ever happened to it she replied, “it went out of business in The Depression, [you idiot,] what do you think happened to it?”
My grandma comes from a different era; and era where ladies were far too polite to actually say, “you idiot”, but her tone of voice subtly conveyed the message just the same.
Thing is, I wonder if they had more happiness back then.
I grew up with my grandmother, who was also born in 1919. She died in 1982.
Married during the Depression, she painted her shoes white on her wedding day. Still have them.
So much of the common sense and pragmatism I use today comes from the clear direction I recieved from her:
1. “Do it right or do it twice.”
2. “Put up or shut up.”
3. (on resourcefulness) “Pretend you’re alone.”
4. Laugh.
As a teen, she broke into the newly-constructed brick high school in 1932 and she and her friend Grace used the new-fangled showers before anyone else used the building. She also wore *pants*.
She had a grit and creativity that formed my consciousness – for which I am forever grateful.
Thanks for the chance to remember her today.
My best wishes to your grandmother for a happy birthday!
M.
@mckra1g
25 May 10 at 8:50 am
Telephones existed in 1919, but I’m not sure how common they were. Check out this Timeline of the Telephone it’s fascinating — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_telephone
In 1919, the first rotary dial telephones in the Bell System were installed. And AT&T measured more the 4,000 people’s heads to figure out how big a handset should be so that your lips would be near the microphone when holding the speaker to your ear.
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Adam Porad
25 May 10 at 9:23 am