I was born in 1964 the last year of the baby boom. (My mom was actually born the first year of the baby boom in 1944.) I grew up during an era of immense change. One of my first memories was in 1969 at five years of age while standing around the television with several people at my grandparent’s small country store and watching the Apollo 11 land on the moon, and Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moons surface and making the famous quote, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Between this and Vietnam our way of life began to change. Music changed, technology began advancing at a faster pace than ever, styles of clothing changed constantly and fashion became an industry all it’s own. People became more self-expressing for whatever they were passionate about; anything from politics, to the Vietnam war, to music, to religion. There was a movement of radicalism like never before. However, among all of this change, I recall a simpleness of life because of my grandparents. Both sets of my grandparents owned a small farm where they both had chicken houses, a few cows and pigs, and a large garden. I actually remember my granddad getting up early each morning and going out to the barn to milk the cow. My granny would churn some of the milk into butter and I was sometimes allowed to help with this chore. It was the late sixties and early seventies and not many people did this anymore. Most people depended on going to the grocery store to get milk and butter. I was not aware, at the time, how unusual that was and I’m so grateful to have not missed out on what has now become a lost way of living and surviving. I worked in a vegetable garden through out high school, each summer, putting up vegetables into two large deep freezers that helped feed our family of eight through the winter months. I was not allowed to go out on a date until all of the peas and beans were shelled and put up in the freezer. It was a different life for most of my friends, but I do not regret all of the hard work and fresh food. It is an even more different life for my children. Change is supposed to be for the better, but to keep it at it’s best no one should ever forget what or where they came from or they may take the blessings this life has to offer for granted. Above all of it, keep Jesus at the center the greatest gift ever given by God. He gave His life, so that we can live a life eternal with our Father in Heaven.
barn on my grandparents place
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