Time Line

I am what you might call “Mid-Century Modern.” I was born just this side of the middle of the 20th century. At that time, I may have crossed paths with a Civil War veteran, because there were still a few alive when I was born. That Civil War veteran may have crossed paths with a Revolutionary war veteran when they were a child There were some alive at the start of the Civil War. So, some young person who I’ve had contact with, may live until 2110 and have been only 3 degrees from the Revolutionary War. Isn’t that cool. Why do you all look like someone passed gas? 

For me, timelines are fun. For those of you who have no idea what a timeline is, it’s a graph that shows a particular stretch of time and major events in that timeline are highlighted. An example is the timeline of the planet earth. You will see most events that involve the human race take up a very little space at the very end of the timeline. Our planet has been around billions of years and human history goes back about 5,000 years (I’m talking about history folks. I know human beings go back hundreds of thousands of years.) Dinosaurs lasted tens of millions of years and our time on earth only scratches the surface. At least dinosaurs had to wait millions of years for an extinction event, while we humans, with our superior intelligence, are accomplishing possible extinction in just a matter of a few centuries. Wait, is that something to be proud of?

I recently saw this posting on Facebook and it really made me think. “2022 is the same distance in time from 1970 as 1918.” 

Many of us were teenagers in 1970 (We’re called Baby Boomers) and couldn’t imagine what life would be like in 52 years. We could look back in time and see that in 1918 there was political upheaval, a deadly world wide pandemic and robber barons who controlled most of the income in this country while the rest of the population could barely pay their bills. We couldn’t have imagined that 52 years into the future there would be political upheaval, a deadly worldwide pandemic and Jeff Bezzos, Elon Musk and Bill Gates controlling most of the income in this country while the rest of the population can barely pay their bills. Wait, what? There is a saying that says, “Those who do not study history are cursed to repeat it.” I believe the statement is from ancient Greece, but  that is a whole different timeline.

The Facebook posting had one more chilling effect on me. My father passed away in 1971 at the young age of 50 and I was 20 at the time. He was born in 1920 and has now been gone longer than he was alive. That will happen to all of us eventually, but to me he had a relatively short life and accomplished so much. He was part of the Greatest generation. He grew up during the Great Depression and served in Europe while in the Army during World War II. He also raised and provided for a family of ten and started as a lowly lineman for the telephone company and worked his way up into management. He was a strong (but loving) disciplinarian, always working on something and I remember he didn’t smile a great deal (He had eight children, would you?). I credit him for teaching me a strong work ethic, and that if you’re five minutes early for a meeting, you’re 5 minutes late. The punctuality he instilled in me has been my lifelong curse. Just the other day I showed up for a doctor’s appointment on time and was stressed out as a result. Still ended up in the waiting room for another 20 minutes. Apparently my doctor never met my dad.

Unfortunately since he was taken so early in life, he never got to see any of his children get married or meet any of his grandchildren. I would have loved for my three boys to meet him. They would realize I’m a pussy cat in comparison to my dad. I’m pretty sure he would have softened up a bit once he had grandkids to spoil, or not. I do remember my grandfather (my dad’s dad) and the one distinct thing about him is that he never smiled, that I know of. Now I know where my dad picked up that trait.

I miss my dad still, but think I turned out pretty good despite not having his sage advice to follow. I served in the Army, been gainfully employed, raised a family of my own that I am very proud of, didn’t join a street gang or become a Republican. Those last two seem redundant.

I think one of my sons has picked up my fascination with timelines. Even though he is now pushing middle age, he will have friends visit and ask me, “Were you around when Martin Luther King was alive?” 

When I say yes, he and his friends will marvel at how old I am. They’re shocked that I would know about the great Martin Luther King. He has also asked me the same question about JFK, RFK, Elvis and Jimmy Hendrix. These people who were part of my everyday life are ancient history for him and his friends. I also think he gets a lot of pleasure from making me feel really old.

I think my own personal timeline is interesting. In my lifetime the Korean War came to an end and the VietNam war started. John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were impeached. The former guy was so good at it, he was impeached twice. My lifetime includes the birth of rock and roll, disco, soft rock, tech-no rock, rap, hip hop and yacht rock. Yes, yacht rock, and please don’t ask me what it is.

I have seen a wide variety of fashion trends and participated in a few of them, to my own embarrassment. Massive bell bottoms that looked like a circus tent were cool once, for maybe 30 minutes. I have seen 13 Presidents and one former guy. I remember when telephones were attached to walls by wires and I couldn’t change what was on my television by touching the screen. Instead of getting lost by trying to follow my Rand MacNally map, I now get lost with my GPS app on my phone. After all these wonderful technological advancements, I still have one question, where’s my flying car?

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