Page 181 - Anthology

He never deposited a check, just kept the cash in the house and I worried that someone would discover
this and do them harm. This is just an example of the change in values from the last four generations, as
I see it.

Perhaps each generation believes that their way of life was the best, but I believe that the genuine threat
of the possibility of having your country ruled by the enemy changes one.

Back to high school days and the progress of the war. I was in Lexington, Kentucky, with friends the day
we heard that the war was over with Germany. A special edition of the Lexington Herald Leader was
published that night and I woke my parents when I arrived home to tell them.

We knew it was just a matter of time after the success of the Normandy Invasion in Europe. Shortly after
the war was finished in Europe the U.S. dropped the atom bomb twice in Japan and that too was finished.
My Senior year in high school our country was recovering from the war and factories changed from
producing war materials and returned to manufacturing household items, farm implements, cars, trucks
and such, that were much in demand. The economy was one of our best and store shelves filled with
enough products for everyone.

Our senior sponsor was granted permission to plan a trip for our class to Washington D.C. For a small-
town girl, this was equivalent to Europe. We traveled by train and the trip remains one of the highlights of
my life. The news events I heard from Washington became real for me and the Capitol and the White
House were larger than I could imagine. I might add that our class earned the money for our trip with
bake sales and community service and our school board made up the balance.

Our families furnished food to take on the train for our meal and for treats. We were well supplied with
most of our class living in rural areas and the moms being excellent country cooks. Our first day back at
school during regular assembly meeting our superintendent requested that our class tell those in the
auditorium about our trip. Suddenly, at the firm request of our home room teacher, I found myself on
center stage with no notes, but had no problem because there was so much information to share.
Our last few days of high school were fun days and considered a big event in our small town. My cousin
and I graduated with the two top honors in our senior class. My mother and my cousin’s dad said the
family genes were responsible. Careers for women were limited at that time; teachers, nurses,
secretaries, librarians, and clerks, were about all the choices girls had at the time. Women were content
to be housewives and mothers to their children.

I traveled to the University of Kentucky as a special student and studied secretarial classes and worked
as a secretary for a printing company, for a few years, before my children arrived. This summary isn’t
about my personal life, so I will only say that at my age, eighty-four plus, I know something the young
parents don’t yet know, how truly precious your children are. The young parents would tell us that indeed
they do know, but I would say, “not yet, your wisdom hasn’t matured enough, it will take years for you to
really know”.

Families change from generation to generation. Rural communities depending on farming realize that
farms can only support so many family members and industry must be accepted. As the population
grows so does industry and soon rural farms become smaller with the necessity of discovering how to
produce more food and products on smaller acres.

Our country has been the leader in meeting these demands for most of my lifetime and preparing for the
world to suddenly be reduced to such a small planet, with our country losing first place in education and
other related matters that are so important, seems beyond my comprehension. I continue to believe our
country is the greatest in our universe and we will succeed in solving our problems.

Our country continues to believe in freedom for everyone and that family values matter for our survival.
My parents, grandparents and great grandparents influenced our values by their examples and I firmly
believe that my children believe in their principles and this knowledge will be passed on to their children
and grandchildren.