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~