Now & Then 7/16/2026

We live in the present, look forward to the future, but enjoy remembering the past. I don’t mind saying I am 81. I feel very blessed that I am able to share with you some of the memories I treasure. So many changes have occurred during my lifetime, most are good. I really did enjoy the “good old days,” although at the time, I didn’t realize just how good they really were.
I think the modern conveniences have made life easier for many. My mother cooked on a wood stove. She made her cakes with a hand-held egg beater and a wooden spoon. There were no microwaves. We didn’t have t.v. dinners, everything was made from scratch. Mother never used a cake or frosting mix.
When we went on vacation, we took our family car. Every time we entered a different state, Dad would go into a gas station and get a map. When we travel with our son and daughter in law, I am truly amazed listening to their GPS. It tells us what lane to get into and to turn either left or right. To someone 81, that is quite remarkable.
When I drive past the high school, I am amazed at the number of cars and trucks in the parking lot. When I went to school, there wasn’t even a student parking lot. Very few brought a car to school.
The other day, while in a doctor’s office, I looked around. Seriously, every patient waiting to see a doctor was on a cell phone. Cell phones are used everywhere one goes. I really hate to see drivers driving with one hand and holding their cell in the other hand. I have a cell phone too, and I will admit, I use it more than I should. When I grew up, we had a wall phone, and I was not allowed to be on it for more than five minutes.
When I grew up, someone would have to go to the basement to put coal in the furnace. Today it is so easy to go to the thermostat and turn on the gas.
Mother did laundry on Mondays. She had a wringer washing machine with two wash tubs. It took her most of the day to do the washing and then hang it out on the clotheslines. Very few families had dryers in the 50’s. Electric washers and dryers have certainly simplified laundry day.
Mother planned meals for the week. Dad took her to the grocery store every Friday. I remember shopping with her. She bought her meat and then asked the butcher if he would throw in some soup bones. Money was tight, and there usually was not money for treats. When I go to grocery stores now, many shoppers have their carts full, with many snacks visible. Maybe that contributes to the weight problem in our country. As a kid, we didn’t have fast food places, but we did have the wonderful A & W.
We waited for the Christmas catalogues to come out. It was quite a wish book, but I knew I would be lucky if Santa brought me one item I really wanted. One year I got a doll house. I was so excited. Today when the letters from children appear in the newspapers, I read the children’s lists. Far different from the one item on my list.
We didn’t have video games, but we played board games. I also remember playing Cootie and Old Maid. I was allowed to go to the library twice a month. I loved to read the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew and Davy Crockett. My dad did not want me spending too much time in the house in the summer, so I could only read in the evenings.
Today, I will admit, hubby and I go out to eat fairly often. When I was growing up, we never went out to eat. The only time we ate in a restaurant was when we were on vacation. When I was in high school, some of us kids did go out to Grimm’s for his homemade french fries and tartar sauce. It was the best. After I graduated from high school, I went to McDonalds in Green Bay for the first time.
Never, ever would I talk back to my parents. My hubby said the same thing. He said his dad had a strap in the garage, and he knew he would use it if he ever talked back. I think kids had a lot more respect for adults back then. Don’t misunderstand, I know there are a lot of kids who still do, but I am simply horrified when I hear the way some kids talk to their parents. As a parent, I would never have allowed such verbal abuse. Never.
When I went to school, girls were not allowed to wear slacks to school. Dresses and skirts had to be below the knee. Boys could not wear tee shirts to school. Those of us who could not afford tennis shoes just wore socks in gym class. My folks bought me a new pair of shoes at the beginning of the school year. I had three skirts for the school year. My grandmother made them with the material I bought with my bean picking money. I thought they were beautiful. I always had to take them off as soon as I got home from school. Hubby told me he always had to take his school clothes off as soon as he got home too.
I had a bike. Dad bought me a used bike painted red from the Gambles Store. It was the only bike I ever had. I loved it, and felt lucky, as some kids didn’t have one,
When I was in high school, my friends and I walked from Marion to Clintonville to go to a matinee. Then we walked home. We were never afraid, except for dogs. Back then there was not the danger of walking on back roads as there is today.
If it sounds like I am complaining, I wasn’t. Just explaining how times have changed. I loved my childhood. Things were simple back then. When in school, the only types of alarms we had were fire or tornado, we never worried about shooters entering our schools. My heart breaks for children now who have so many more things to worry about.
I am grateful for all the advances that have been made in the medical field over the years. Living 81 years was not as common as it is today.
I enjoy looking back on the past but I am also excited for the future. Life is good. God is good. Let’s all count our blessings.