Life In The Rearview Mirror

em @ earthybrain wrote a post,
And They Will Never Know

That caused me to peer at my life through the rearview mirror.  25 yrs ago…sounds crazy to me that it was more than half my life away, I met Ms. Betsey. She was my next door neighbor and a widow. Being alone and with no children of her own, I became good company and made conversations over cake and coffee, a regular affair.

she spoke about her life and memories that held me rapt and in awe of the history that she’d witnessed. She said that when she was  young, that girls would often go to school but rarely boys. During that time, the family’s living depended on the farm. Going to school was nonsense when the boys were needed to work and expected to farm themselves.  On April 4, 1968, Betsy had driven to Memphis TN to go shopping. She had just began driving back home and was on the bridge crossing over into Arkansas when they closed it down. Martin Luther king had been shot.
All these years later, I look back upon the history I’ve lived through and witnessed and again I am amazed.

I was here when the first steps on the moon were taken. I lived through the assassination of the Kennedy Boys, political shenanigans like Watergate and more. The invention of ” The Pill” and Roe v. Wade were within my history.
I’ve lived through the 60’s hippies, the civil rights movement, the Beatles, the 70’s disco, the emergence of hair bands, heavy metal, punk rock, hip hop and good lord, Hick Hop. BTW, stop that!

I remember transistor radio’s, 45 records, 8 track and cassette tapes, cd’s and ipods. Home computors were things from the Jetsons, phones had a rotary dial and were tethered to the wall.  My word, I remember my grandmother was on a party line!  When someone called, everyone’s house phone rang and you only knew it was for you  by your personal ring pattern!  When you picked up the phone, you were greeted by a real live operator too.

I recall the first colored TV and guess what?  I was literally the remote control.  “Go change the channel.”  I’d have to go turn the knob on the television…click… click… click. ” Wait! Go back!”  Click…click.  Don’t even get me started with Rabbit Ears!
In Jr High, I used my lunch money to buy cigarettes for 50 cents and gas was 63 cents a gallon.

Life seems so short from where I stand and yet, through the rearview, such a long road stretches. I’ve lived through and have seen so much change, avancement, history.  Again, I am amazed….at how quickly its all gone by and again I stand in awe.