Grandma Dorothy

I have been thinking back to simpler times. I was remembering what life was like before electronics took over our lives.  As I set and ponder the evening sunset, I wonder how many people missed it because they are glued to an electronic advice. Then I started thinking about the last conversation that I had with my wonderful Grandma Dorothy.

Grandma Dorothy lived to be almost 90 years young. She was an amazing farm woman. She grew a wonderful garden and canned all the food. She had the biggest cellar. She cooked on a wood stove and didn't have a dishwasher.  She didn't even have a bathroom in the house until 1973.  There was an outhouse out back that they used. She was a tough woman and yet so gentle. I wondered what she would think of today’s world.

I remember going to her house in the early 1970’s and they had a small black and white TV and they only got PBS. Today they could have satellite TV, Telephone and Internet.  I don’t think she ever used a computer. I am sure she never used a cellphone. She would have never picked the phone up while talking to others.  I remember calling her as a child and she had a phone address with numbers and oh my things changes.

After my grandfather passed away she moved to live with my aunt in Spokane. I it wasn't until the early 1980’s that she moved to Spokane and got cable. I think life was easier for her in town. We talked once about all the different things that she had experienced in her life and she had witnessed a lot. I asked her what her most memorable moments were. She told me that she remembered the joy on my grandfather’s face when he came home from a long day. She remembers the birth of my children and the death of three of children. I will never forget what she said next. “A parent should never have to endure the pain and loss of a child. You never get over it no matter how old the child. She went on to tell me that she remembered the birth of her grandchildren.

In all the things my grandmother told shared with me that day. She never once told me she was upset that her phone didn't work. She never complained about cable. She was content with the people in her life.  She did say it was nice to heat water on an electric stove, but that can make a person lazy.  

Grandma, if you can hear me know. I miss you and keep you near and dear to my heart.