Casey Cyr, Get Real

After visiting with my grandma last Monday and the hydro going out last Thursday, I have really been wondering how we ever lived without all of our technology “stuff,” but it is possible.

My grandma Mary, in the first few years of her marriage didn’t have hydro. It was years before they had it installed.

They canned all their veggies and meats to keep them preserved for everyday life — they didn’t have a fridge! She mentioned that big box stores didn’t exist, but it was the small corner stores in each little town that sustained all the residents in the surrounding area.

Those were the days they took the horse and buggy to church and it took a full day to do laundry. She even put the clothes on the line in the winter and recalled the fabric coming inside stiff as a board.

She had most of her daughters preparing for dinner and her sons out doing chores with their dad. Grandma strapped her own work boots on and milked the cows in the evenings.

They had peach, cherry and apple trees dispersed all over their property and picked wild strawberries at the bush to make fresh jam. They had to work to survive and in essence, I can’t really relate to that.

I come home, can pop something in the oven for 25 minutes, eat, put my dishes in the dishwasher, throw a load of laundry in, check my email, Facebook and Twitter and read a couple chapters in a book all within a two and a half hour stint.

No wonder we complain we’re bored. We have to make up hobbies to fill the time.

There was no time for boredom in those days. They always had something to do and worked hard doing it.

I’m not saying that we don’t work hard now, it’s just different. It’s a different way of living.

I’m so glad that my grandma shares little tidbits like this with me. I can read it in history books all I want, but when I listen to someone who lived it, it becomes that much more real to me.

So long story short, I am coming to appreciate local history because it tells us where we came from and propels us forward into where we want to go.

Thanks for sharing, Gram.