Yesterday would have been my grandfather's 137th birthday. Each year on that day, I take a few minutes to remember and think about what a remarkable, profound life he lived in the fact that, in his lifetime, the rate of progress and change in about everything he knew was unprecedented.
He was born in 1885, before Karl Benz invented the first automobile. Everyone was transported or pulled by horseback. He witnessed the invention and rise of the airplane and the aircraft industry and commercial air transportation. He was born before radio. He lived through the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War. He saw the invention of television, electronics, the transistor, computers, rockets and lived to witness, in real time, men walk on the moon. Since he was a doctor who graduated medical school in 1917, imagine the progress he witnessed in medical technology, procedures, tools and medication. His was an incredible time to be alive in the world. But progress and change hasn't slowed, only accelerated. These changes are coming faster and faster.
I remember the last conversation I had with my grandfather a few months before he died in 1979 at age 94. I asked him about this very subject. We were sitting on the side of his bed and he was wearing his old burgundy satin robe and slippers. I asked him if he ever imagined as a boy that men would travel and walk on the moon, that pictures and sound would be transmitted wirelessly through the air, that mathematics could be done by a small, handheld machine (calculator), etc. He remarked that his vision of the future was that of reading H.G. Wells and others' science fiction novels. The operative word here is 'fiction.' It wasn’t real. He couldn't have imagined the changes he witnessed.
In retrospect, as a boy and young man I now wish I would have spent a much more time speaking with him picking his brain about his life and experiences. But as boy and young man my interests were elsewhere. Lesson learned. Take the time now before it's too late.
Being born before automobiles and dying after men walked on the moon. What a remarkable time to have lived. Just some food for thought.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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Greetings Dennis - My Great grandfather was born in 1840 and died in 1913, just a couple of years after buying a Ford convertible touring car. He fought in the Civil War and started the Alexander Children's Center in Charlotte NC to care for orphans after the war.
ReplyDeleteI teach for the University of Wisconsin Milw, campus and encourage my students to interview their oldest living relatives to gain some perspective. Family History is so important to work on asap while some of the older generations are still alive!
Thanks, Chris. Excellent. Too many important family stories, first-hand history (as opposed history written later by third parties) and creativity is lost due to neglecting to document our living ancestors knowledge and experiences. I’m happy to hear you are encouraging those interviews.
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