Last night Vince went to bed before I did and I was sitting and cross stitching. I was thinking about how my grandma had canned all the time – fruit, vegetables, chicken . . she canned everything she could get in a jar. I was thinking about how she loved to cook and how, back before the days of internet, and before my grandparents had a phone, I would write her a letter and it would take days for it to get there. Then, as soon as she received my letter, she would sit down and write me back. There were many letters exchanged when I was a young girl and even once I was in high school. By then, they had a phone but long distances was expensive – more so for my grandparents who didn’t have much money. Any time I would call her, she wanted to say what we had to say and get off the phone – no chit chatting because someone was paying for the call.
I was thinking . . we’re so lucky to live in a time when long distance charges are mostly a thing of the past with cell phones. I was thinking how amazed my grandma would be with modern technology.
Then, I was back to my cross stitching and calculating how much stitching I might get done before I went up to bed.
Then . . what’s that noise? It sounds like a weird phone but we don’t have any weird phones. Then I realized Vince was upstairs and he was calling me through Facebook. Is it Messenger? I don’t even know. I never use it. He had a question . . one I couldn’t answer. Then he said “You don’t have to hurry to bed . . I’ve already fallen asleep.” Hmm . . he wasn’t asleep . . he was talking to me.
We said our goodbyes and then I thought . . maybe we aren’t so lucky to be living in a time when it’s so easy to make calls. He in the same house with me and he’s calling me on Facebook! I supposed he didn’t have his phone or maybe he called me on my phone and the volume is off. Oh well . . modern technology probably works better for some than it works for us. 🙂
Tracy says
I miss writing and receiving letters too. I know I could start again any time, but I don’t know of anyone who’d want to participate as a penpal. Your post brought back memories of my grandma, she was a homemaker (mother to 5) too, made jellies and jam, knitted so many things, and did needlework too. She played card games of all kinds, grew orchids and did the crossword puzzle everyday, something I try to emulate as well. I often wonder if she would have liked the internet, and texting. There is something magical about getting a letter in your box though…
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Do you look back at all your grandma did and wonder how she did it? I think I sometimes get a lot done but I could never accomplish as much as she did in a day. . every day! There are days that I spend very little time on the computer and we rarely watch tv but I still can’t come close to accomplishing what she did.