Changing world

Yesterday a friend was bemoaning the fact that the world is moving too fast and I was reminded of my father who was born in 1900 before autos and died in 1969 after man had walked on the moon. Upon further reflection I realized that the differences between my wife and my daughter were even a better example of how things change. My wife was raised on a farm in North Dakota, one of 16 children. She was born in 1932 at the start of the Great Depression. They had no running water, no indoor plumbing and no electricity. The wood fired cook stove in the kitchen helped to keep the place warm. On Saturday nights they would bring in a large galvanized tub and heat water on the cook stove and everyone would take their weekly bath to get ready for church the next day. The girls went first and then the boys. This was to keep the water fairly clean for a while since the boys worked in the fields. Everyone had chores and my wife milked 18 cows every morning before school. For school they hitched the horse to the sleigh and traveled over the snow banks on the two mile journey into town. There was a stove in the wagon and they gathered around that to warm their hands. Her clothes were homemade hand-me-downs. At birthdays there were no presents but mom always made a cake and this was shared with family members and there were no leftovers. Birthdays were not a time of getting things but a time to share the one gift with others. Christmas was not a time of gifting but of visiting with neighbors and going to church. Winters were especially difficult when simple things like going to the bathroom required hanging onto a rope stretched from the house to the outhouse so you wouldn’t get lost in the storms that made it difficult to see your hand in front of your face. With ten girls they had one large bedroom that was wall to wall beds and they slept two or more in a bed depending on the size of the kid. Now fast forward one generation to my daughter who lived in a house with all the modern conveniences. She told me that it was in Junior High that she discovered that not every kid had a room of their own. Birthdays were a dozen friends all bringing gifts plus what mom and dad provided. A party with cake and ice cream, hats and decorations. Christmas was almost sinful with presents all over the living room and kids opening them and tossing them aside to get to the next gift. Her clothes were store bought and new and a clean bath every morning was the norm. I do not begrudge my daughter’s life style as I was delighted that we were able to provide things but I just want to point out the difference that one generation can make.