We had some wonderful family get-togethers when I was a kid. Mom had 7 siblings and dad had 10. I recall the ones from mom's side of the family because they were more social and entertained more than dad's side. At just about every party, wedding, or funeral, the talk got around to the "good old days" which were much better than the '50's when the memories were being resurrected. They all lived through the Great Depression but somehow that was better than the Eisenhower years. LOL Well, maybe things were better back in the 20's, but none of that can be duplicated in 2020. None of it. Everything has evolved into something else, and only one thing remains the same: people are still nostalgic for their past.
Over and over again you tell stores of how you happen to be in the right place at the right time. It's an admirable trait and as I said before I don't think it's random luck. You learned quite a bit in your days and it paid off handsomely. Then, too, you encountered more than your fair share of setbacks. You might be living on the financial edge these days, but you have a lot of wonderful memories to write about. Those are priceless.
Windows Defender
Re: Windows Defender
My great-grandfather was one of the stern faced Germans.
Now although my grandpa tried to follow in his footsteps in many ways, he turned out to be one of those fun-lovin' Germans, and he never failed to entertain a good prank, while being dead serious at the same time.
I think when most folks look at their past, and/or their family history, they are proud and miss those days.
I believe most of the old timers stuck together because it had to do with the lack of transportation, local commitments, and the type of entertainment that brought whole towns together. So also, family get togethers were huge.
The next generation still got together with friends and families, especially on holidays and special occasions. But they no longer came out together as a town activity, except for perhaps a few annual events that lingered on.
Our generation not only had college at distant places, but they often met their mate while at college, so they live everywhere except home, or if they do live in their home town, most of their siblings and cousins don't.
As long as their parents are still alive, they all try to converge on mom n dad's house for the holidays.
But once our parents are gone, we rarely even go see our own siblings anymore.
And now that we are up in years, possibly living far from home, where nobody is left anymore anyhow.
About the only thing we have left is our spouse, if they are still living, and the kids live far away now too.
So basically, we are out here all alone, no big family get togethers, no cousins living nearby that we haven't spoke to in years anyhow.
Nope, it is not at all like when everyone converged on grandma's house and played with all the cousins.
I've been lucky in a lot of ways. Seems like whenever I needed the resources to take care of someone, somehow I had them at the right time, even if I ended up burning it all up and had to scrimp and save afterward. I wouldn't change it for the world. My only regret is all the step and foster children I raised, not a one has ever stayed in contact.
Now although my grandpa tried to follow in his footsteps in many ways, he turned out to be one of those fun-lovin' Germans, and he never failed to entertain a good prank, while being dead serious at the same time.
I think when most folks look at their past, and/or their family history, they are proud and miss those days.
I believe most of the old timers stuck together because it had to do with the lack of transportation, local commitments, and the type of entertainment that brought whole towns together. So also, family get togethers were huge.
The next generation still got together with friends and families, especially on holidays and special occasions. But they no longer came out together as a town activity, except for perhaps a few annual events that lingered on.
Our generation not only had college at distant places, but they often met their mate while at college, so they live everywhere except home, or if they do live in their home town, most of their siblings and cousins don't.
As long as their parents are still alive, they all try to converge on mom n dad's house for the holidays.
But once our parents are gone, we rarely even go see our own siblings anymore.
And now that we are up in years, possibly living far from home, where nobody is left anymore anyhow.
About the only thing we have left is our spouse, if they are still living, and the kids live far away now too.
So basically, we are out here all alone, no big family get togethers, no cousins living nearby that we haven't spoke to in years anyhow.
Nope, it is not at all like when everyone converged on grandma's house and played with all the cousins.
I've been lucky in a lot of ways. Seems like whenever I needed the resources to take care of someone, somehow I had them at the right time, even if I ended up burning it all up and had to scrimp and save afterward. I wouldn't change it for the world. My only regret is all the step and foster children I raised, not a one has ever stayed in contact.
Re: Windows Defender
Thinking about family and life in general can get philosophical quickly. I always leaned in the direction of existentialism and kind of focused on the here and now. The future is unknowable and the past is unchangeable. All that we can control is in the present. That's all well and good from a logic point of view, but our human experience gets into things such as feeling and emotions. Mixing the two is when existence gets complicated. I've come to the conclusion that trying to do what you perceive as the best response to a situation is the most satisfying way to go through life. Be it right or wrong, trying to do your best is what it's all about. Of course, what is best for you is not best for me. That makes it all interesting. 