Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Remembering the past - one post at a time

 This new blog will be all about life in the past 200 years to the present. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I should have been born 100 years earlier which would have been 1864, which sounds about right to me. 

 I absolutely love history and "story tellin's" of the past. I hope to have a lot of photos, articles, home remedies, and of course stories! I'll keep adding to the list as time goes on and I hope I can bring back some wonderful memories for all of us.

 I have a special fascination with the Great Depression so I'll be sharing everything I can find about that too. My parents were both born during the Depression and I'll be getting a lot of information directly from them. 

Times were hard, life was simple, and people were kinder to one another. I think it brought out a certain kind of strength of character to live through something like that.  

With that said I'd like to share a poem from Paul Harvey. It's appropriate for me being a first time Grandma and I'm sure many of you will relate to it as well.

~To My Grandchildren~ 

We tried so hard to make things better
for our kids that we made them worse.
For my grandchildren, I'd like better. 

I'd really like for them to know 
about hand-me down clothes and homemade ice cream 
and leftover meatloaf sandwiches. I really would. 

My cherished grandson and grandaughter
I hope you learn humility
by being humiliated,
and that you learn honesty by being cheated. 

I hope you learn to make your bed
and mow the lawn and wash the car.
And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car
when you are sixteen. I hope you have a job by then. 

It will be good if at least one time
you can see a baby calf born
and your old dog put to sleep. 

I hope you get a black eye fighting
for something you believe in. 

I hope you have to share a bedroom 
with your younger brother or sister.
And it's all right if you have to draw a line
down the middle of the room,
but when one of them wants to crawl under the covers
with you because they are scared, I hope you let them.
When you want to see a Disney movie
and your little brother or sister wants to tag along,
I hope you'll let them. 

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends
and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.
On rainy days when you have to catch a ride
I hope your driver doesn't have to drop you two blocks away
so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your mom. 

If you want a slingshot, I hope your dad teaches
you how to make one instead of buying one. 

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.
When you learn to use those newfangled computers,
I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head. 

I hope you get razzed by your friends 
when you have your first crush on a girl or boy 
and when you talk back to your mother 
that you learn what Ivory soap tastes like. 

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain,
burn your hand on the stove and 
stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. 

I hope you get sick when someone
blows cigar smoke in your face.
I don't care if you try beer once,
but I hope you don't like it.
And if a friend offers you dope or a joint,
I hope you realize they are not your friend. 

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch 
with your grandpa and go fishing with your uncle.
May you feel sorrow at a funeral and the joy of holidays. 

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw
a baseball through a neighbor's window
and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time
when you give her a plaster of Paris mold of your hand. 

These things I wish for you...
tough times and disappointment,
hard work and happiness. 

These things I wish for each of you. 

~Paul Harvey~ 

3 comments:

  1. Good luck with your blog! Love the poem and I look forward to following your new blog.
    ~~Patti~~

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