To The Editor:
I find myself thinking about the future and what it will mean to those in it. I wonder if they will have any sense of history, heritage or ancestry. Much seems so instant, disposable and temporary with nothing left to be passed on with a story.
As Christmas approaches, I remember coming down the stairs on Christmas morning to the anticipation of what might be in my stocking. That stocking would be one of dad’s dress socks hung with a string on the bannister post. Not too much room in dad’s stocking, but it didn’t take long to know what was in the toe: an orange along with some hard candy and maybe a small tin truck. It was always the best stocking ever.
My first pair of skis. Not new but refinished wooden ones made in Waterbury. In fact, I never owned a new pair of skis. But those brand-new secondhand skis were the best ones to me.
It seems like if we wanted something important we usually earned it or worked to help get it. And it most generally lasted beyond our use or interest and made at least one more generation happy to have it. Like all my bikes, all used, all repaired over and over, modified according to the current fad and passed on to someone else. The next owner valued the used bike as much as I did. I even made a set of chains for mine so I could deliver papers with it in the winter – ever perfected the idea to patent stage.
I still have my Flexible Flyer that I slid down Bragg Hill on with Sally Eurich. I have my grandfather’s wooden traverse sled that was handmade in 1897. All these antiques have a story to be told.
These are important to me because I am a product of my past, my ancestors and my town. Without the memories of the times, things, places, people and happenings in my upbringing I would be hollow.
I do not see these things having much or any meaning in today’s instant world where technology is even gradually taking over the responsibility of making our own decisions.
So thankful I grew up in a smaller, slower, more responsible and meaningful time. We are the product of our own decisions and I am grateful I could make them in a world with less pressure and desire for instant gratification.
Merry Christmas and thanks for the orange, Santa.
Steve Joslin
Graniteville
