Given that my birthday was just this past week, this felt relevant. I had a conversation a few weeks ago where a friend told me he was amused at somebody’s placement of older people into any sort of historic time frame. I will admit it was amusing to think that this very young person wasn’t sure if a grandparent of my friend was part of something from the 1800s. There’s always a little humor to saying something like, please be patient with me, I’m from the 1900s. Thing is, I think there’s also something to be said for making a real and tangible connection when something like this comes up.
I get it. These days there are more than a few people who think I’m very old. Half a century? Maybe a little old. Not “history” old though, right? Maybe. There are memes and lists and websites out there that give myriad examples of how our thoughts of what happened and when are wrong. Somebody who was at the play where Lincoln’s assassination happened was interviewed on television.
I thought it was an excellent opportunity missed. We should be trying to explain this on a personal level when the moment is right (and sometimes the humor dictates the education is at another point). I went back and asked my mom about the rough timeline for our family. People I knew. People in your family might fall into the same sort of categorization / time line list. It’s worth it to ask.
My grandmother was born during World War I. She was a child during the roaring 20’s and came of age during the great depression. Her husband went to fight in World War II (around the age of 23). She saw that war, the Korean war, Vietnam, Dessert Storm and Afghanistan wars in her lifetime. Her husband served, her son served and her grandson served in the American military.
She also got to see both the rise and the fall of the Berlin wall. Men traveling to the moon. Innovations in technology that would likely astound people if they were shown the whole stretch of it. A great example – motion pictures didn’t have sound until my gram was 12 years old. When she passed away people were watching movies in full color with sound on a small plastic rectangle they keep in their pockets. The insane level of advancements is genuinely staggering… and yet it was just a lifetime. One person.
My great-great grandfather was born in 1848 in Scotland. He moved to the United States in 1872. The other side of my family was here long before that… but then, how old was the United States as a whole at that point? Speaking of – here’s another fun one. The United States didn’t have 50 states until my mom was 14. That’s not “ancient history”, that’s my mom.
I suppose what I’m getting at here is twofold.
One, study history. It matters. There are too many things going on in our current world that would be helped if people had a sense of the past, were willing to study, learn or even listen to those who know. IF you have a chance to help that sense of history rather than joke, take that chance.
Two, take the time to talk to those folks that have been around for a while. Be inquisitive. Learn about what sorts of things people have gotten into in their lives, what sort of things they’ve seen. The sort of things you could find out might surprise you.
