“The flu pandemic of 1918 left my then toddler dad a mother-less child. “
My mother was born in 1918. It didn’t get anyone in her family, but she heard stories about it when she was older. One day you’d see a person on the street; the next day the doctor’s buggy would be in front of their house, the day after, the undertaker.
A couple of world wars with a major economic collapse in between, then followed by a cold war and lots of minor wars and skirmishes, world-wide epidemics, biological and ideological, etc., etc....about all that was missing was the final battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus.
As for my dad, between losing his mom and being bounced around from family to family so young, then the 'great' depression and all that happened in WWII, it took him several decades to shake off the damage.
In retirement, my parents would watch TV and comment on how out of place they felt in the world of today.
I used to laugh, but in comparing our evermore redefined now to the slower, seemingly larger and virtually tech-less world they grew up in, I guess I'm not surprised.
And now, I miss hearing about how different things are now.
Life is such a short season for we annuals in this earthly garden.