It isn’t often that we witness the end of a historical era. Life’s clutter usually keeps us from recognizing such events. In my case, the ending of this particular era came with the death of a loved one.
Ninety six-year-old Reta Standeaven passed away between Christmas and New Years. Her life’s end coincided with the year’s end but it also closed the door, for our family, on the generation which transitioned the pioneer age into the space age. Reta was one of those few people left who had been raised without electricity and yet, had seen a man walk on the moon.
Born two months premature in a time when hospitals didn’t have the means to cater to the weak, she showed her strength of spirit even then. In her era, a preemie was simply wrapped in wool, set in a laundry basket by the wood fire and fed by eye dropper. So much is different from those days of nearly a century ago.
We don’t often value the importance of her generation. We think of them as a bit old fashioned — unable to keep up with our fast-changing times. Yet we forget that they were the inventors of much that caused the times to change.
Reta grew up with horse-drawn vehicles — the method of transportation for thousands of years. It was her generation that invented the motorized vehicle. It was her generation that took that technology and expanded on it, creating air travel and space travel. It was her generation that saw the use of the electric light bulb incorporated into standard building code, and yet, were she still here she could likely tell me how to render down beef fat to make candles, how to create a hand-sewn quilt without a sewing machine, and the best time of the season to plant root crops.
Reta — Great Granny — saw the introduction of television, computer, Internet, satellite and so many things that our generations claim as their own. I’m sure it had to have been overwhelming at times for her to see such rapid advancement in technology. I’m not exactly a spring chicken but I still remember computers and TV as a child — okay, so the computers were the big, bulky main frames but they still existed. Man flew to the moon when I was little. I grew up seeing cars and planes and trains take people across the country. Not much changed for me. The technology has become smaller and more efficient — that is all.
For Reta’s generation, a whole new world opened before their eyes, and it was a result of their ingenuity and hard work.
Our family closes the book on a very unique person ... on a very unique generation of people. We will miss her and her strong determination, her creativity and her interest in the lives of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren.
I will think of Reta when I see a horse-drawn buggy parked at the grocery store next to a shiny new car or truck. I will think of her when I preserve my vegetables and jams, placing them on the counter next to my electric stove and refrigerator. I will ponder the miracle of her life when I next need healthcare for some trivial ailment, knowing that her life continued through simple determination and perseverance.
I will remember her when I look at the faces of my grandchildren and I will wonder if I will leave as rich a legacy as the one she has left us.
(www.donnafawcett.com)