A "When I was young thread" Still young? How is it working out?

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[MaxBeta]

   Folks.. Taking a different twist on how one's youth has evolved.. for those of my generation, lots of dynamic changes.  This thread isn't for deep dark confessions but mostly for describing how the expectations of our younger times have arrived to the present. 

Sometimes we can be metaphoric or have important dates, music, or people as great descriptors.. I'll show an example.

The rooms were so much colder then
My father was a soldier then
And times were very hard
When I was young

A few will recognize the words from this song.. and for the most part describes things I can related to, in remembering my childhood. (though I was reaching my teens when the song arrived)

Our house was heated with a coal furnace..seemed never to be warm except over a heat register.

My father was a WWII veteran

The economy was recovering from what is called the Great Depression..everyone had to work.

I liked the song..it had a haunting way of getting my mind going.. besides I liked most of the Animals musical style at the time.   

Now if anyone has a memory moment of those younger times..this is your chance to share.   

[Sandra]

The rooms were so much colder then
My father was a soldier then
And times were very hard
When I was young
That exactly describes me and my family
My father was a soldier (a Sergeant Major)
We lived in Winchester (Hampshire) and there was a barracks there and a huge wall enclosing the top of the 'City' (although it's only small Winchester is a City)
The roads were clearer
The rooms were colder
And times were very hard
WW2 had not long finished (this was the late forties) we were on rationing, I remember taking the ration book to the shop for sweets, there was nary a car to be seen,(where I lived)we had a coal fire as did almost everyone else, a great big garden where my dad grew vegetables and flowers, and a huge orchard full of apple and pear trees, down the bottom of the garden was a patch of mud, where my sisters and I used to play 'shops' rolling some old newspapers into a cone shape, filling it with mud, and 'selling' it as icecream
 I had a wonderful childhood my sisters and I (there were three of us then, five now)would take a bottle of lemonade and some sandwiches, call for our friends and off we'd go for the day, ALL DAY coming home about 4PM very tired and very hungry, we'd have our tea/dinner and play out 'til time for bed
I used to tell my granddaughter about those times, (when she was younger) and it saddened me beyond words that she would never be able to do that, kids can't be let out of your sight these days, that is one change for the worse.

[MaxBeta]

Nice post Sandra..!!    

That is exactly what I had in mind.  Nothing seems to dim those vivid childhood memories..yet I'll forget to pickup Milk when shopping in a grocery store..( even with a list hehe).  Age plays tricks on perception...those younger eyes saw an endless future..the older one view.. a defined "less" which becomes apparent to a much clearer vision.  My best example..Even though failing sight, the sense of vision proves much more precise.. as I watched my grandmother almost blind do the most tedious, intricate, needle point creations.

I always thought, and was taught that words can be a tool..full of power, yet embrace every other positive aspect of human enrichment.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize how volatile words can be if misused.  So I'm including this little tidbit:

It's funny how we always seem,
To be so happy in a dream,
Yet when it's time for us to wake,
We think our dreams a big mistake.
It's funny how in proper life,
We seem so bent on war and strife,
If only we would try to live,
To be forgiving and to give.
Then to us our life would seem,
To be the same as in our dream,
And in the morn when we awake,
We'd never make the same mistake

I keep reading this back to myself..and remember what my father said about good advice.  He said "Even if you have a train load of the best advice, not one ounce will work to your advantage if you never apply it"  He was no doubt a poster child for Common sense.  The enigma is we usually wait until we are the age of the bearer of such wisdom to realize application does have to be considered.

Now it's you're turn... anyone who recalls those younger days.

[Lengo]

This is enlightening. It's probably more helpful about getting to know people than anything else I've seen here. Good job, Max.

All I can say is that I somehow knew that the boomer generation was gonna be great. I felt privileged to be part of an activist generation. I thought the whole world was gonna grow up at the same time I was. There'd be an end to war. There'd be racial and gender equality. The world would be a better place.

I was wrong but then I was right. Things have improved immensely, but not enough. The boomers have proven to be one of the most generous generations ever! They give in all kinds of ways. You can't watch the news and not see some kind of creative, charitable work story.

But, "All You Need is Love" didn't come to fruition. I still believe in this though. M'thinks all religions need to get back to this, and stop the judging, spreading of fear and hatred, and jealously gaurding their own.

I come from intelligent stock. My Dad is a freaking genius. He was an electronics engineer. My mother was college educated too. We were well off -- upper middle class. I was priviledged to learn more sophisticated ways and ideas. I've always loved learning -- tis the best thing in life! You start dying when you stop learning. You live only when you keep learning new and fresh things. This generation has taught me and the world lots of things.... some of which I didn't want to learn.

It's disappointing that in my life there was war after war after war, sorta like Orwell's 1984. But at least there was the pacifist movements, the equal rights movements, and an abundance of well intentioned, educated people with means to effect change. Progess has been made, but I think more coulda been achieved.

So, I'm proud to be a boomer (born in 1950). All in all, it's been a pretty good life! We should all count our blessing of living in a period where free thinking and new attitudes made life more free than ever in history.

[MaxBeta]

  Whoa Lengo..!!! That is one grand post.  It does remind me of how parents, the world..your "childhood" worries played a role.  They all really had a major influence over what I thought and acted upon..growing up.

I'm working on another "youth" segment. I'm calling it my Dire Straits chapter.. hehe 

[Lengo]

I always thought, and was taught that words can be a tool..full of power, yet embrace every other positive aspect of human enrichment.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize how volatile words can be if misused.  .....

I hear negative and hateful words, and uncouth and distasteful words nearly every day. I know how words can hurt. I know how I've hurt others with words. I know how your own words can hurt yourself. I'm done with doing that, though I ocassionally say the wrong thing.

I'm not a Christian, but Jesus said something most wise.  People came to him and asked about what they could eat, citing that Jews were forbidden from eating pork. Jesus replied "It's not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him. It's what comes out of it."

Think about that for a while.

[MaxBeta]

   "think about it..."  That I have ..Lengo, even more so as my golden years give me the luxury to do so.

Faith whatever fashion it may be, should be viewed not as wishful thinking but as wishful living, something we all do, though the content of an individuals faith may vary.  No one gets up in the morning and says... "Mm?..I think I'll make this the worse day in my life.."  Frightfully as it may seem it does happened, just make sure it purely by fate.. not of your own doing.

Nice posts so far.. I really appreciate the input...adds meaning to the whole procession we travel from infancy to our senior days.   

[Oregon Taz]

And times were very hard
WW2 had not long finished (this was the late forties) we were on rationing, I remember taking the ration book to the shop for sweets, there was nary a car to be seen

Oh my, Sandra, you were in the middle of the war. That must have been very scary.  We (US citizens) were only on the edge, but I remember rationing, blackout drills, and knitting white squares for the Red Cross to put together and make blankets. I was only 7 at the time and my squares weren't very square, but it least I tried. 

A friend from Texas emailed a nice nostalgia piece.
It is a powerpoint presentation, so you need to click the arrow at the bottom to get to the next page of text. (Hope everyone has powerpoint.)

Taz

*edit* Couldn't attach it, sorry. Maybe one of you techies can figure out how I can share this.
Taz

[MaxBeta]

   Hi Taz... I remember some of those items..pretty young, but was aware of the War..my Dad was uniform..and all my uncles..so hard to miss.  He spent several years after the War commissioned to finding MIA's..we travelled all the time and everywhere when I was a little guy..well.. I was almost 11lb at birth so little might be a stretch.  hehe 


@Ore Taz.. Mm?  Sorry about the attachment not working..it has to be in these formats  gif, jpg, pdf, png, txt, zip, scn, cs, xml.  and CB has a 2048KB size limit..x5 if it can be broken up.  The only way I can see is possibly a zip..which would lockup the powerpoint format.  Anyroad, that's how I'd approach it.  ..no guarantees just voicing my observation.

Always great to see your post.. no doubt between all us war babies..we could post things that this younger generation only has seen in movies.  Big difference huh?   

[Oregon Taz]

I zipped the "close your eyes" powerpoint file. Hope it works.

Taz

*edit*  Whoee, it did worked     

Thanks, Max 

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