September 8, 2014
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100 Years
On September 8, 1914, a baby was born who later became my mother. Today would have been her 100th birthday. This has made me very reflective over the past few days -- thinking of all the things that happened in those 100 years! She was born only a few weeks after the beginning of World War 1 -- how many wars there have been in the 100 years since then! She was born 3 weeks after the opening of the Panama Canal -- think of the changes that brought to the world. Her dad was an engineer on the first Aswan Dam in Egypt. And the Americans landed on the moon during her lifetime. I wonder if there will be as many changes in our lives.
Comments (21)
Thanks for sharing, on this most auspicious and heart-wrenching day. She did indeed witness great change and unrest. If you think about it, so have we- and I'm sure it will continue.
Yes, that was definitely a part of my reflections! So many changes to think about, though, in the last 100 years -- cars, airplanes, communications, etc...
I's hard for us to imagine the changes that are coming. My mother will be 97 on the s7th of this month.
It's amazing how different the world is now than it was 100 years ago (or even 73 years!)!
Times change and advancements take place and we hardly notice until one day we open our eyes in astonishment! There were leaps and bounds for my grandmother - electric lights, indoor toilets, TV, talking movies, anesthesia, diagnostics like MRI/PET/CAT scans, anti-cancer drugs, birth control, air conditioning and garbage disposals (that didn't oink), not to mention the H-bomb, a man on the moon and even the first cell phones (the size of a shoe box!). Just in my lifetime we have cell phones, smart phones, personal computers, the internet, video games, LASIK surgery, medical advancements too numerous to count, space shuttles (and the moon landings). I can't imagine the developments that are coming soon!
It's interesting -- there were so many advances in those 100 years that I didn't even think of the medical ones (even though I grew up with a physician father!).It will be interesting to see the next 25 years (that will get me to 100!).
Cerwin's mom will be 97 in a few days, and we were thinking the same thing - of all the changes she has seen. When she was a girl her dad farmed with horses.
Happy 97th to Cerwin's mom! I can't even imagine farming with horses! The changes are too many to enumerate fully --
She was a beautiful lady. Just as she saw so many wars, it seems like we are seeing similar changes in the world's peace. There are wars and then there are more wars. We have seen historic changes too... watched Neil Armstrong land on the moon...reading his book "the life of Flight" currently and so mesmerized by it. When I was a child, we had no electricity in our home, and no telephone or television. And every thing came along at its own pace, and they continue to amaze us.
A part of my reflections led to some reflection on my own life -- we had telephone (party lines only -- my dad had to fight for a private line after he came home from WWII, and got it only because he was a physician!); we had no TV, and instead a huge console radio! It is amazing the changes that are still occurring. I still find it interesting that my mother declared in about 2004 or 2005 that she hated this century!
She must have had a good outlook on life. Something to teach us all.
She had a tough life -- it's been much easier for those of us who came later. Interesting that in about 2005 she began to say that she didn't like this century!
I think about all the changes my mom saw. It was thrilling to her to see She was thrilled to buy our first B&W TV.
My mom is going to be 90 this year so she has experienced her share of changes. Sadly, she doesn't remember too many of them.
I'm sorry your mom doesn't remember the changes! I was fortunate that my mom was quite alert until just the last 3 weeks or so. There were so many changes -- and many of them were also in my lifetime!!!
I remember you wrote about her when you had to take care of her - all those trips. I also remembered how you shared your experiences when I was going through the same thing with my dad.
Thanks for your comment? I think this milestone has provided a sort of closure for me -- perhaps more than when she died. I am finding that now I am able to look back at her life and her memory with a fresh look, rather than through those exhausted eyes from 4 years ago!
Lovely photo of a lovely woman. It is amazing to think of all the events and changes she witnessed in her life time. peace always
Thanks, Jane!
Your mother was a lady having a lot of class and distinction .
Love
michel
I love this photo. Your mom looks like she would be a well known author.
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