Not Merely a Sign of Age
What do the following have in common?
- The year of a devastating flood in our area
- The year of my birth
- The year of John F. Kennedy’s assassination
- The year of our oldest child’s birth
- The year of the events we now refer to as “9-11”
- The year during which people are dealing with Covid-19
Here are some hints.
My parents lived through what those of that generation who are still with us refer to as “the ‘37 flood.” Since that was a little more than a decade before I was born, it really doesn’t mean as much to me as it did to those who experienced it. What was reality for them is history for me.
The number of years between president Kennedy’s assassination and the birth of our oldest child are the same as the number of years between the ‘37 flood and my birth. I have very vivid memories of being glued to the television for days following that event, but for her it is only history.
Our oldest grandchild was six months old when planes flew into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and into the ground in Pennsylvania. He’s a freshman in college now. While his parents and grandparents remember 9-11 very, very well, he has no memory of that. It is history for him.
Presently there are three generations of our family living through a worldwide pandemic. All of us will remember this for as long as we have any memory. However, if the world continues, the day will come when this situation will not mean nearly as much to future generations as it does to us.
World events, local issues, family dynamics, and personal situations are constantly changing as “time marches on.” What is a significant event and a vivid memory for some means very little or possibly even nothing to those who never had the experience or lived at that time.
Time does not have to “march on” in order for this to be true. Even in the “here and now” we cannot assume that everybody with whom we come into contact has the same background or point of reference that we do.
We need to remember that as we interact with one another. Realizing that no two people have exactly the same life experiences is not merely a sign of age. It is also a sign of wisdom.
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
