Reflectively

Nothing much has happened since Rita came through so life is quiet which gives time for reflection. When I was a child we lived in Oklahoma. Not only in Oklahoma but most of my young childhood was spent out in the country. Not that I am that old but I can remember crank telephones, no running water, outhouses, cooking and heating on a wood burning stove. Thankfully we did have electricity but not electric irons or television. Soon there will be no one left that can remember these things and that isn’t necessarily bad or sad.

Every generation has its own “remember when…” I may be an exception to my generation that remembers having to go outside to pump water even when it was freezing or raining, but I also remember when the Beatles came to America and seeing scenes of war from Viet Nam. And war is what I am reflecting on – maybe because our young men and women are far from home fighting.

Every generation has its own war to remember. My generation it was Viet Nam, my parents was Korea, my grand parents World War II, great grand parents World War I, and now my children’s generation have the first war in Iraq and the War on Terror. The War on Terror is the one that really concerns me. This war has far greater reaching boundaries – similar to the World Wars of my grand parents’ days. Times when people wondered if it would ever end, if the boys would every come home, could people start their lives over, how different the world would be when it and if it did end? Those are the same questions being asked now.

Reflectively, I guess today’s war is more closely aligned to the World Wars than Viet Nam, where many countries were involved, fighting spilled over borders, our country was attacked, governments changed, and England and the US were called on to carry the load. Like then, nay sayers are everywhere and can deeply affect the morale of everyone. Soldiers today, like then, step up to do the dirty work and reach inside to find the strength to carry on.

Sociologists say the generation that is coming of age, the Millenniums, are more closely aligned to the Greatest Generation. The Greatest Generation were the ones that fought the World Wars. To be compared to them speaks volumes for this new generation. A generation that will have its own “remember when” that maybe very reflective of long ago generations.

Elaine H.