Back before social media, cell phones, beepers, even house phones, the way people would pass down the history of their people or teach or even entertain, they told stories. Stories of how their ancestors lived, loved, fought and survived. People communicated more with each other then than now, even though they may not have had transportation. When they were together, they talked, traded things, shared and helped each other because it was the right thing to do and not to have an IOU for something they may want or need in the future. Remember seeing on tv, (and some of you, maybe even not that) a neighbor needing to borrow sugar? That was so basic, they helped each other build houses, barns, supported each other through grief and loss.
I love the image of long summer evenings when people sat outside and talked and watched their children play and neighborhoods did fun things together and in my lifetime, even shopping centers did annual events together, the store managers all knew each other and met and planned sidewalk sales, sometimes with themes, and they had fun with it, the customers loved it and looked forward to it and it was a neighborhood event. I even remember one where they hired a country western band to come and perform. I don't remember the name, I do have a picture somewhere of me and my little brother standing in front of the stage, but what I do remember is that it was Tex Ritter's band, (he was John Ritter's father, from Three's Company.) That might've even been the name of the band....?
My point to all of this is that I wish I knew then what I know now...when I was younger but old enough and visited my parents in Vidalia, LA and had the time to sit and listen to their stories. I know a few, but learned more once they were gone. How I wish I had gone on a trip with them to see where they lived, went to school, played and fell in love. There are huge gaps in their history that I have no idea what the story was and those that do are no longer with us either.
This blog is to share memories, experiences and life with whoever wants to take a moment to read it. I haven't asked my sons to read it, I left it to them to choose, but hope they do. We haven't sat down and shared stories either, oh they know a few funny things about their dad and his 2 brothers growing up or me and my 5 brothers growing up, but there are gaps there too. I wish one of the things that stayed the same as the world changed was that families passed down the stories like the old days. I'm so drawn to the way it was in years gone by, and miss hearing the stories Pop (my father-in-law) used to tell about Tennessee in his youth and love reading about the way it was in old Florida, and the other states that I have lived in.
What are they going to say about our current world, say 50 years in the future, it seems like we are just walking on the surface of life and not really going very deep like they did when people rose before the sun and laid down at sun down but filled the hours in between with hard work, love of family, neighbors and country. Of course I didn't live back then but from what I've read and what little I've heard, it just seems like we were stronger, happier and though life was hard for most, we came together in support of our country and it's leaders who are only human after all.
Newspapers...can you believe NEWSPAPERS are going by the wayside? They used to be the best way to learn about what was happening in our world! I can't believe it, in my lifetime, that it is slowly disappearing. And BOOKS! I LOVE BOOKS! I love to read and though I only read a book once, I hate to let them go. I used to be able to trade with other readers or even have an outlet to take them to a consignment shop to sell but now days, they don't sell well so they really don't want them. WHAT?! What will happen to the storytellers??
I bought my first audio book, not sure how I'm going to like that, I read at lunch most days too and always read at night...how is that going to work? I don't think I like it already.
Anyway, some days, this blog will be a memory, a story to pass down and share with whomever wants to read it, my hope is that people will start posting stories of their own to share with me too.
Musings of a modern day mamaw.
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