It was September 24, 2012. I was in a hospital room and witnessed the birth of my 1st great grandchild, Lila. I was present for the birth of several of my grandchildren, I have 18 right now. This day was different. My oldest grandchild, Andrea, was giving birth. This was not only the day Andrea became a mom, or the day my son and daughter-in-law became grandparents. This was the day a new generation was born. I will explain that there is no 'real blood line' from me to the new little angel born that day. No genetics binding us together. But I will also tell you that the day her mother Andrea, and her uncle Brigham, at the age of 4 and 3, came into my life--that is the day I became a grandmother. No definition or standard supplied by the world will EVER change that!
It was 119 years ago, on the same day, that my Grandma Parker was born. So here we are now, 6 generations later, and I fit smack dab in the middle, looking both back and forward. I look back at some of the things my grandma had, and didn't have. I remember a record player, or rather a phonograph as she called it, in her parlor. It stood about waist high, a little larger than a filing cabinet. It had a very large cone shaped speaker coming out of it, and a handle on the side that you had to turn, or wind up to make it play. I remember, as a young girl playing records on this and dancing in grandma's parlor. We of course, had a newer and smaller version of the record player at my house. The sound that came out of that large box was much less than clear, but oh so fun. I can only imagine how excited she was when she first acquired it, giving her music of her own choosing in her home. I now can't imagine life without my ipod music at my fingertips anywhere and anytime. Grandma never had a TV. She could have had one in later years, but I think it was just a matter of principle with her. I can remember as a young child getting our 1st color TV. We did have a black and white before that. How exciting it was to have the latest and greatest piece of technology in our own living room. As a child I would come home from school everyday and turn the TV on to watch Star Trek. Oh yeah, the original with Captain James T. Kirk and Spock and all of them. The imagination that created that show was so amazing and beyond anything I would have ever comprehended. That's why they call it science fiction I guess. The hand held communicating device that flipped open, allowing them to talk to each other without wires connecting the two and at very long distances, was just one of those unimaginable devices to me. I know that's why I held onto my flip phone for so long in more recent years. The transporter, well what can I say about the transporter. I am still amazed by the fax machine, putting a document into a machine, and then wha-la it materializes at the intended destination just as the original. And remember the Jetsons. Okay, many of you won't know who the Jetsons were. They were a cartoon family in the future. So many fun and interesting speculations of what the future would be like. Just cartoon science fiction. To think that you could talk with someone over a phone and actually see them and they would see you, on a screen while talking with each other. I know, really bizarre! At least it was then. I think about these marvelous advances that I have witnessed and now enjoy in my life. I can remember, when my oldest children were in their teens, standing in the front yard of a friend who was in advertising. He seemed to be up on some of the newest technology. He was telling us about this amazing thing we would see in the future, called 'the internet'. This internet would connect us with people and businesses like we couldn't imagine. He said there would come a time when we could buy things while sitting in our own living rooms and have them delivered to our homes, even pizza. Wow, that was such an abstract concept to even think about, and not that long ago. I don't think I'm trying to express how old I am, because I don't feel that old. I think what I'm trying to express is how fast technology is advancing. My 7 year old grandson, Talmage, is in 2nd grade. The other day he said to his dad, "Do you know what they had before smart boards?" Never quite knowing what he's going to say next, Chad said, "No, what did they have?" He answered with a very slow and deliberate, "c-h-a-l-k b-o-a-r-d-s", making Chad feel very old. Upon telling me about this, Chad had to explain to me what a smart board is. If you don't know, ask a kid. Apparently the schools are using this new technology in place of the much outdated chalk board.
So what is little Lila going to witness in her life time? What modern technology do we enjoy now that she will never know, or will consider outdated. And is there a purpose for all this technology. Have you ever wondered why in the dark ages, there was really no advancement, centuries of stagnation. Then in the 1400s, the printing press, which was the catalyst for knowledge to be spread and growth to happen. The rest is history, one invention after another, at first rather slowly, advancing to what we are seeing now. Like a snow ball rolling down a steep snow filled slope. As it gathers more snow, it becomes larger and larger. As it gets larger, it picks up speed. As it picks up speed it just gathers more snow faster and faster, bigger and bigger....and so on. What's it all for? Is there a purpose, or just chance? Just co-incidence? I know I've said this before, but so true---Co-incidence is just God's way of remaining anonymous. I believe that it all has a purpose. I believe all this technology at our fingertips and every where around us is part of a very large master plan. I believe that it is and will be used for good, as well as evil. I can only hope and pray, as I continually do, that my children, grandchildren, and little Lila's generation will accept all this technology and use it for good in their lives and the lives of their families. I can only pray.
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