reflections
~
Reflections ~
on
~
Life and Living ~
- A little something
to remind us why we pursue genealogy.
-
- From:
How Green Was My
Valley
by Richard
Lewellyn
-
- "I saw behind me those
who had gone, and before me, those who are to come.
- I looked back and saw
my father, and his father, and all our
- fathers, and in front,
to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond.
-
- And their eyes were my
eyes.
-
- As I felt, so they had
felt, and were to feel, as then, so now, as
- to-morrow and forever.
Then I was not afraid, for I was in a long line that had no
- beginning, and no end,
and the hand of his father grasped my father's hand, and
his
- hand was in mine, and
my unborn son took my right hand, and all, up and down
- the line that
stretched from Time That Was, to Time That Is, and is not
yet,
- raised their hands to
show the link, and we found that we were one, born of
Woman,
- Son of Man, had in the
Image, fashioned in the Womb by the Will of God,
- the
- Eternal Father.
- I was of them, they
were of me, and in me, and I in all of them."
-
-
-
- Water From Another
Time
-
- New mown hay on a July
morn....
- grandkids are runnin through the
knee-high corn,
- sunburned nose and a scabbed up
knee
- from a rope at the white oak
tree
-
- Just another summer days at
grandpa's farm
- with grandma's bucket hangin off
my arm.
- You know the old pump's rusty
but it works fine,
- primed with water from another
time.
-
- It don't take much but you gotta
have some
- the old ways help the new ways
come;
- Just leave a little extra for
the next in line
- they're gonna need a little
water from another time.
-
- Tattered quilt on the goosedown
bed -
- every stitch tells a story, my
grandma said:
- her mamas' nightgown, grandpa's
pants
- and the dress she wore to her
high school dance.
-
- Now wrapped at night in those
patchwork seams
- I waltz with grandma in my
dreams;
- my arms, my heart, my life
entwined with
- water from another time.
-
- It don't take much but you gotta
have some
- the old ways help the new ways
come;
- leave a little extra for the
next in line
- they're gonna need a little
water from another time.
-
- Newborn cry in the morning air
-
- the past & the future are
wedded there
- in this wellspring of my sons
& daughters,
- the bone & blood of living
waters.
-
- And though grandpa's hands have
gone to dust
- like grandma's pump reduced to
rust -
- their stories quench my soul
& mind
- like water from another
time.
-
- It don't take much but you gotta
have some
- the old ways help the new ways
come
- just leave a little extra for
the next in line
- they're gonna need a little
water from another time.
-
- Words by John McCutcheon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE BEST THINGS IN
LIFE
- Falling in love.
- Laughing so hard your face hurts.
- A hot
shower.
- No
lines at the Super Walmart.
- A
special glance.
- Getting mail.
- Taking
a drive on a pretty road.
- Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
- Lying
in bed listening to the rain outside.
- Hot
towels out of the dryer.
- Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half
price.
- Chocolate milkshake.
- A long
distance phone call.
- A
bubble bath.
- Giggling.
- A good
conversation.
- The
beach.
- Finding a $20 bill in your coat from last
winter.
- Laughing at yourself.
- Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
- Running through sprinklers.
- Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
- Having
someone tell you that you're beautiful.
- Laughing at an inside joke.
- Friends.
- Falling in love for the first time.
- Accidentally overhearing someone say something
nice about you.
- Waking
up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
- Your
first kiss.
- Making
new friends or spending time with old ones.
- Playing with a new puppy.
- Late
night talks with your roommate that keep you from sleeping.
- Having
someone play with your hair.
- Sweet
dreams.
- Hot
chocolate.
- Road
trips with friends.
- Swinging on swings.
- Watching a good movie cuddled up on a couch with
someone you love.
- Wrapping presents under the Christmas tree while
eating cookies and drinking eggnog.
- Song
lyrics printed inside your new CD so you can sing along without
feeling stupid.
- Going
to a really good concert.
- Getting butterflies in your stomach every time you
see that one person.
- Making
eye contact with a cute stranger.
- Winning a really competitive game.
- Making
chocolate chip cookies!
- Having
your friends send you homemade cookies!
- Spending time with close friends!
- Seeing
smiles and hearing laughter from your friends...
- Holding hands with someone you care about.
- Running into an old friend and realizing that some
things (good or bad) never change.
- Discovering that love is unconditional and
stronger than time.
- Riding
the best roller coasters over and over.
- Hugging the person you love.
- Watching the expression on someone's face as they
open a much-desired present from you.
- Watching the sunrise
- Getting out of bed every morning and
- thanking God for another
- beautiful day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- STRANGERS IN THE
BOX (Author Unknown)
-
- I hope this inspires
all of you to go through your pictures and identify all of them--
- so the next generation
or two won't have to go through what is described below
-
- Come, look with me
inside this drawer,
- In this box I've often
seen,
- At the pictures, black
and white,
- Faces proud, still,
and serene.
-
- I wish I knew the
people,
- These strangers in the
box,
- Their names and all
their memories,
- Are lost among my
socks.
-
- I wonder what their
lives were like,
- How did they spend
their days?
- What about their
special times?
- I'll never know their
ways.
-
- If only someone had
taken time,
- To tell, who, what,
where, and when,
- These faces of my
heritage,
- Would come to life
again.
-
- Could this become the
fate,
- Of the pictures we
take today?
- The faces and the
memories,
- Someday to be passed
away?
-
- Take time to save your
stories,
- Seize the opportunity
when it knocks,
- Or someday you and
yours,
- Could be strangers in
the box.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ONE HUNDRED YEARS
AGO
- The average life
expectancy in the United States was forty- seven.
-
- Only 14 percent of the
homes in the United States had a bathtub.
-
- Only 8 percent of the
homes had a telephone.
- A three-minute call
from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
-
- There were only 8,000
cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads.
- The maximum speed
limit in most cities was 10 mph.
-
- Alabama, Mississippi,
Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated
- than California. With
a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the
- twenty-first most
populous state in the Union.
-
- The tallest structure
in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
-
- The average wage in
the US was twenty-two cents an hour.
- The average US worker
made between $200 and $400 per year.
-
- A competent accountant
could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist
- $2,500 per year, a
veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a
- mechanical engineer
about $5000 per year.
-
- More than 95 percent
of all births in the United States took place at home.
-
- Ninety percent of all
US physicians had no college education. Instead, they
- attended medical
schools, many of which were condemned in the press and
- by the government as
"substandard."
-
- Sugar cost four cents
a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
- Coffee cost fifteen
cents a pound.
-
- Most women only washed
their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for
shampoo.
-
- Canada passed a law
prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any
- reason, either as
travelers or immigrants.
-
- The five leading
causes of death in the US were:
- 1. Pneumonia and
influenza,
- 2.
Tuberculosis,
- 3. Diarrhea,
- 4. Heart
disease,
- 5. Stroke.
-
- The American flag had
45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and
- Alaska hadn't been
admitted to the Union yet.
-
- Drive-by shootings --
in which teenage boys galloped down the street on
- horses and started
randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything else
- that caught their
fancy -- were an ongoing problem in Denver and other
- cities in the
West.
-
- The population of Las
Vegas, Nevada was thirty. The remote desert community
- was inhabited by only
a handful of ranchers and their families.
-
- Plutonium, insulin,
and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch
- tape, crossword
puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.
-
- There was no Mother's
Day or Father's Day.
-
- One in ten US adults
couldn't read or write.
- Only 6 percent of all
Americans had graduated from high school.
-
- Some medical
authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt
to
- become sexually
aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the
sewing
- machine's foot pedals.
They recommended slipping bromide, which was
- thought to diminish
sexual desire-into the women's drinking water.
-
- Marijuana, heroin, and
morphine were all available over the counter at
- corner drugstores.
According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion,
- gives buoyancy to the
mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in
- fact, a perfect
guardian of health."
-
- Coca-Cola contained
cocaine instead of caffeine.
-
- Punch-card data
processing had recently been developed, and early
- predecessors of the
modern computer were used for the first time by the
- government to help
compile the 1900 census.
-
- Eighteen percent of
households in the United States had at least one
- full-time servant or
domestic.
-
- There were about 230
reported murders in the US annually.
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Drinking From My Saucer
- Author
Unknown
(contributed by
Bill & Norma Dalton)
-
- I've
never made a fortune
- and it's
probably too late now.
- But I
don't worry about that much,
- I'm
happy anyhow.
-
-
- And as I
go along life's way,
- I'm
reaping better than I sowed.
- I'm
drinking from my saucer,
- Cause my
cup has overflowed.
-
-
- Haven't
got a lot of riches,
- and
sometimes the going's tough.
- But I've
got loving ones around me,
- and that
makes me rich enough.
-
-
- I thank
God for his blessings,
- and the
mercies He's bestowed.
- I'm
drinking from my saucer,
- Cause my
cup has overflowed.
-
-
- O,
Remember times when things went wrong,
- My faith
wore somewhat thin.
- But all
at once the dark clouds broke,
- and sun
peeped through again.
-
-
- So Lord,
help me not to gripe
- about
the tough rows that I've hoed.
- I'm
drinking from my saucer,
- Cause my
cup has overflowed.
-
-
- If God
gives me strength and courage,
- When the
way grows steep and rough.
- I'll not
ask for other blessings,
- I'm
already blessed enough.
-
-
- And may
I never be too busy,
- to help
others bear their loads.
- Then
I'll keep drinking from my saucer,
- Cause my
cup has overflowed.
-
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma
Bombeck
- (Written after
she found out she was dying from cancer.)
-
-
- I would
have gone to bed when I was sick instead of
- pretending the earth would go into a holding
pattern
- if I
weren't there for the day.
-
-
- I would
have burned the pink candle sculpted like a
- rose
before it melted in storage.
-
-
- I would
have talked less and listened more.
-
-
- I would
have invited friends over to dinner even if
- the
carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.
-
-
- I would
have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living
- room
and worried much less about the dirt when someone
- wanted
to light a fire in the fireplace.
-
-
- I would
have taken the time to listen to my
- grandfather ramble about his youth.
-
-
- I would
never have insisted the car windows be rolled
- up on a
summer day because my hair had just been
- teased
and sprayed.
-
-
- I would
have sat on the lawn with my children and not
- worried
about grass stains.
-
-
- I would
have cried and laughed less while watching
- television-and more while watching life.
-
-
- I would
never have bought anything just because it was
- practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed
to last
- a
lifetime.
-
-
- Instead
of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd
- have
cherished every moment and realized that the
- wonderment growing inside me was the only
- chance
in life to assist God in a miracle.
-
-
- When my
kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have
- said,
"Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There
- would
have been more "I love you's." More "I'm sorry's"
-
- ...But
mostly, given another shot at life, I would
- seize
every minute...look at it and really see it ...
- live
it...and never give it back.
-
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