One evening a Grandson was talking to his Grandpa about current events in 2008. The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandson was sure that his Grandpa was older than the hills.   But the Grandson was going to be shocked to find out how young Grandpa really was.

Grandpa replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:  television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill.

There were no:  credit cards, laser beams, ball-point pens.

Man had not invented:  pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers.   The clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air.   And man hadn't yet walked on the moon.

Your Grandmother and I got married first . . . then lived together.

Every family had a father and a mother.

And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."

We were before gay-rights, computer dating, dual careers, day care centers, and group therapy.

Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.   We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.  We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.  Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.  Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.

Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios.  And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.  Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5 & 10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.  And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $1600, but who could afford one? Too bad, because gas was 22 cents a gallon.

In my day:  "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.   "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, "chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store and "software" wasn't even a word.

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby.  No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap...

The answer to how soon could Grandpa be born is found in the following: Some of the pioneering trials of penicillin took place at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. On March 14, 1942, John Bumstead and Orvan Hess became the first in the world to successfully treat a patient using penicillin.   Maybe Grandpa never heard of FM radio, but that doesn't mean it didn't exist!   The first patent for FM broadcasting was issued in 1933; the first commercial FM station went live in 1937.   My friend Dick remembers that his grandparents had an FM radio that was designed to receive these stations, which were on a different band than present-day FM (42-50 MHz instead of 88-108 MHz).   In 1945, Gen. David Sarnoff, General Manager of RCA, convinced the FCC to reassign FM broadcasting from the old band to the new, which had the desired effect of rendering all the early FM receivers and transmitters obsolete and driving the inventor into bankruptcy and suicide.   Therefore, Grandpa could be as young as 66/67 or as old as 71/72.

Many grandparents have excellent memories and may God Bless them, everyone.

However, the following is a song for those that can't remember be you young or old.

If you click on the following, you will load 7.74mb of Flash Video.

Memory song for those that can't.