Posted on 11/28/2016 5:25:59 PM PST by SMGFan
Not exactly my definition of "the Golden Years."
That’s the kind of intellect I was dealing with too. :)
A few years ago, the local newspaper reprinted a letter my Grandfather had written to the paper in 1918.
In it he mentioned his sorrow over so many deaths of friends. He also spoke of the school he was teaching at in Madison, Florida. He also said that he had been forced to suspend his college education due to financial reasons. (He later earned his degree from Stetson).
Reading between the lines, the flu epidemic of 1918 was probably the reason for so many deaths. As to their financial situation, I remembered that Daddy was born in that same year.
Most of mine as well. My maternal grandfather was in the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906 when he was a kid.
She’s hot
got any other pics?
I have a picture of my German grandfather in his WW1 uniform. Served as a sapper on the Russian Front. During WWII he was a construction superintendent overseeing the building of a section of the coastal defenses at Normandy. Every June 6th I think about our Soldiers wading ashore and my grandfather.
He died in the mid 1980s, at 89 years old. When he was 84 he had his leg amputated and was walking with a prosthetic and a cane within a year. My German grandmother dropped dead while cooking him dinner at the age of 75 in 1973. She still grew all of her vegetables in a rather large garden and bartered veggies for eggs and other items
My sister and I were his only grandchildren and he paid for us to fly over every other year to visit.
But let us not forget all the people in their hundred-and-teens that absentee voted in the election earlier this month. Surely a few of them must be in the 117 range, right?
Interesting that you used the term “Sappers”. I saw a program on the History Channel in which they interviewed a German soldier who was a tank commander during an early battle in Russia.
They crossed over a bridge which the German engineers were still working on. Russian artillery was hitting all around. He said they were safe in their tanks but the “sappers” only had their helmets to protect them while they were working.
We’ve got a family picture with 5 generations in it and my great great grandfather is holding me. He was born in 1862 and he ended up missing the moon landing by about 4-6 months. I’ve got a grandmother left, she’ll be 99 in December and she’s still up and about.
Had all of them up til I was 43 and they were (and are) all pretty mobile and independent up until the end, THAT has been one of the Lords best blessings to me :-)
This film might interest you. It was taken 4 days before the earthquake.
https://youtu.be/8Q5Nur642BU
There is, to me, a significant disconnection and loss here. Being into history and old stuff I see these people (pre 1900 born) as having connected us tenuously to the era of the founders. If you knew someone born in the 1800s you possibly had a conduit to someone who was involved in or followed some of the epic episodes of our early history or was told about it by someone there.
As they pass away the firsthand aspect passed with them like tenuous dissipating smoke and we’re left with artifacts and clippings and such. If you have friends or loved ones in advanced age, take notes!
“They always had a phone, but used sparingly. We live too fast these days.”
Phones are a love/hate thing with me. Didn’t feel this way until 10+ years ago when smart phones came to be and everyone turned into a zombie.
Well, it all depends on what you use as the beginning of AD, no? Since I believe it started at 0 AD, then the second century started exactly 100 years later - January 1, 100 AD. It makes no sense that the first century began on 1 AD, does it? But that appears to be how you and others are accounting for time.
I remember my old computer actually showing the date as 1900 after Y2K...I still have it, I haven't checked to see if it has made it to 1916...
It has been accepted for centuries that a new century begins with “1” as there was no year zero. In America, January 1, 1801 was widely celebrated as the beginning of the 19th Century and January 1, 1901 as the beginning of the 20th. It all changed in the year 2000 when people started celebrating the new century a year early. Not taken from my personal beliefs, just reading historical works.
“I eat two eggs a day, and that’s it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because I have no teeth”
She’s exaggerating - there’s still a sweet tooth in there somewhere...
Ugh Stop. She’s the last person alive who was born when the year started with 18—. Ok? Better.
No one thinks about like you do! I bet you put your seat belt on when you’re just moving around your own driveway!
She seems satisfied enough to stick around.
Thank you for adding that fascinating fact to this mundane, dull story.
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