December 13, 2018
Walkmans. Pagers. VHS. Car phones. Floppy discs. GameBoy.
They’re all technologies of the past. They’ll never make a comeback and you’ll probably only ever see them in a museum…or in a box of your old stuff packed away in the basement.
I never had a pager but I can remember having a Discman and a Walkman. I remember listening to my Garth Brooks cassette tape in my Walkman on road trips with my family. And I have a very vivid memory of laying in our popup camper listening to my 98 Degrees CD on a Discman that was grey with lime green and bright blue buttons. And I remember playing computer games that had to be loaded straight off of floppy discs (Oregon Trail anyone?).
These are things that I remember (and that make me feel old) but that Liam will never understand. The thought of him never knowing what a CD it seems so silly to me. But, my parents probably feel the same way about 8 tracks and records. And, if modern computers are even a thing when Liam is in high school, saving a document to a physical device will seem as foreign to him as not having a microwave is to me. Honestly, saving something to “the cloud” or “online” may even be a thing of the past as well. That just hurts my brain to even think about!
History is fascinating to me. But I wish it always had been. My junior year of high school I had a great US History teacher but had no interest in the subject at all. I remember where I sat in class and who I sat by but not the topics to which he taught. And I remember probably bombing the AP Exam (at least I”m assuming I did because the one essay I had to write was complete rubbish). I’d love to go back and really listen to him now.
I say all this to say that our society is so fast-paced these days. We don’t have time to wait for our device to charge or to even cook a decent meal. We rush around checking items off our to-do lists hoping to make it to the next day with a little less to do.
Meanwhile, there’s an entire generation that is taking it slow.
– They still actually visit their friends in person (actually going to their house with the object of just saying hi).
– They still call friends up on the phone just to chat (not relying on text messages to stay in contact).
– They still have a landline and own flip phones (but not for much longer!).
– They still enjoy getting actual mail in the mailbox (not an email in their inbox) and still send greeting cards for each holiday.
And this generation has stories to tell–if we’ll just listen!
I own a deck of cards called Grandparent Talk. The intent of the cards is to get children conversing with their grandparents. I admit, though, when I first got them I didn’t really see their point. Was a child just supposed to sit across from their grandparent and bombard them with question after question from the stack? That seemed more like an interview than a conversation – and a quick way to discourage a good conversation from both parties. So I put them in a box and forgot about them.
Months later I was having a conversation with Liam about mail. His grandparents and great-grandparents will occasionally send him a card with some money in it. He gets so excited seeing a card in the mail addressed personally to him. I explained that if he wanted to receive more mail then he also needed to send mail. Meanwhile, I’d had a conversation with my mom about how my grandparents still enjoy checking the mail (not in dread like many of us since we mainly expect bills and junk mail).
It was then that I remembered the Grandparent Talk cards and made a plan on how Liam and could use them. We were going to be penpals with all Liam’s great-grandparents. That was close to a year ago and we have written many times back and forth. I write a letter to them telling about what’s going on here in MT (even though I talk to them once a week) and then end the letter with a question from the cards. And, of course, I include some artwork and a “letter” from Liam.
And while the response I get is usually above Liam’s head, one day I hope he will cherish these letters as much as I do. The stories my grandfather has told are both eye-opening and hilarious.
There was the letter that told about how he and his siblings had a “fly swatter chore”. He said that flies were so bad in their house and during meal times they would swarm around everyone’s food. So one child always had the job of eating with one hand and swatting away the flies with the other. And to think I get annoyed when two flies somehow make it into our house!
There was also the letter that mentioned that for years the didn’t have toilet paper so they either used old magazines or corncobs – all in an outhouse!!!!
I love hearing my grandparents’ stories and I know my grandfather equally loves telling them. I’ve heard some of them in person but having them written on paper is just special. These letters are so special to me and I can’t wait to share them with Liam again when he’s older.
I challenge you: Have a conversation with the older generation. It doesn’t have to be through letters. Visit a neighbor. Visit a retirement home. Or simply start small and say hi at the grocery store. Liam and I visit our older neighbors from where we used to live. They have grandchildren but I enjoy taking Liam over there since we can’t exactly go visit my grandparents in North Carolina each week. And I enjoy hearing about how Bozeman used to be when they moved here in the 1970’s. An entirely different world, for sure!
Now, to get our next letter out to my grandparents before Christmas…!
