By William of CrossDove Writers

A while back I apparently missed out on an update of a family members medical procedure because I had not been on Facebook or even the internet for most of the day, and it made me stop and think about the days gone past when Facebook and the internet were not the media spectacle that they are today.

That was when I realized how much I was grateful for growing up without what dominates the life of people today and that would be the seemingly necessary ownership of computers, cell phones, game boxes, cable television and/or internet, satellite entertainment or even a kindle instead of a book to read with.

It almost seems as if people can’t function without having nearly all the previous mentioned technology gadgets.

Yep, I am old enough to say I grew up with a black and white television that maybe got four stations and those watching it played the role of remote control by having to get up and walk to the television to change the channel.

Yep, I am old enough that I talked to my high school sweetheart on a rotary telephone with an extended cord so I could go around the corner out of the room and have some privacy. Our phone was connected to the wall and eventually we had one that was hanging on the wall.

Yep, I am old enough that I used a little transistor radio to listen to a baseball game or music while going to bed at night.

Yep, I am old enough that to see a movie we had to go to the theater, to listen to our favorite musician we had to buy either a 45 or 33 rpm record to play on a phonograph, to get our news we had to literally read an actual newspaper, a magazine or listen to one of three network newscasts over dinner.

Yep, I am old enough that keeping in touch with family and friends in other towns meant you either spent money calling them or you sat down and wrote them a letter or postcard, put a stamp on it and put in the mail to be delivered a few days later.

Yap, I am old enough that instead of some fancy computer game we either played a board or card game, played outside and much of the time used our imagination to do role playing with the kids in the neighborhood while playing army games or cops and robbers.

But guess what, when we called someone it meant we knew their phone number and when they would answer we would know their voice. We would know people by the color of their eyes, the style of their hair, the look of their hair or the way they would walk.

People had real nicknames based on something they did, something they kept doing or something about the way they looked or talked.

As confused as I may get when it comes to internet things like hashtags, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter, snapchat and skype, I am also grateful for the incredible ride it has been the past 55-plus years as technology began to grow with baby steps along the way until it blew down the doors some 30 years ago and brought the world to the fingers of everyone, everywhere.

While I do read a lot on the internet, I still enjoy the smell and feel of a new magazine, so I have a subscription to several magazines that continue to grow in piles throughout my office.

I still enjoy either buying a book or going to the library and finding a book to read, just as I also so many days will go about my day with nothing on in the house but maybe an old-time music radio station or some CD’s blaring out my favorite style of songs.

Yep, an attitude of gratitude for life of being more responsible and educated about the life around your world.

But for now, I really do need to get off this computer and catch up on some texting from my daughter and grandkids.

With that – hugs, prayers, blessings and many happy thoughts from Grumpy Gramps.

(Copyright@2019, CrossDove Writers – no part of this posting may be printed, copied or used without written permission by CrossDove Writers and Grumpy Gramps.)