Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The Greatest Generation

A few days ago Kim and I went to a fund raiser at the invitation of my parents. There was going to be entertainment by one of the best jazz accordion/organ players around named Don Komar. There were two seating/shows one at 3pm and one at 6. Mom and Dad chose the 3pm show. The shows starts with an older couple, He playing the accordion and she singing. They broke out so many old songs many I have never heard but obviously the rest of the room had. He spoke of when he was a teenager during the war and the patriotism that all his family and friends had. I looked around the room and a few things struck me. First of all Kim was the youngest person in the room, then me. At our table were 3 other couples, 2 of them getting ready for their 60th anniversary (including my folks). The agreeing nods shared by many people in the room to the stories of the 40's and 50's was very neat to see, or should I say "swell" I read the book by Brokaw The Greatest Generation and have always been drawn to the 40's, the music, the cars, the clothes... Were the old people in that room really that different from me or am I just witnessing maturity in action? On the East coast Mark's grandmother was doing her part for the war effort but not typical behavior for a young girl. Kim pointed out that maybe when these folks were our age they may have thought like us. I am most definitely in a different frame of mind than when I was 20. Interesting thought process. I was also a wee bit jealous of the bond all these people had. Soon after that I realized we were eating dinner at 4:30pm. Home soaking our feet by 6:30 and asleep by 8. Holy crap! We became old in one afternoon!

Here's a tune from Don Komar Samba De Orfeu

9 comments:

Angie said...

Isn't that something? I have often marveled at how much more mature my mom and dad seemed in their 20s....and they had Lori and me.

Me at 21? Total loser. Totally irresponsible. Totally not ready to have or raise kids.

And yet, they did it.

Of course, I'll be 58 years old when Caroline is 18. . . but who's counting?

Great post, by the way!!!

Doug said...

Thanks Ang...

Angie said...

Aw shucks. . .you had me at "Ang"

By the way, you know that's how I KNEW that Mark was the one, right? He called me "Ang" the very first time I met him.

Doug said...

called Kim "Ki"

did nothing for me

Angie said...

Gosh, can't see why that didn't woo her. . . .

Donna said...

People rise to the occasion. And the occasion of the War in the 40's was incredible. I had the same feeling about Grandpa Jack, realizing he was part of the Trench action in France in the First War. How does Brokaw deal with that generation in his book?

Doug said...

wow, I have to go back and revisit the book. I don't recall his take on the WWI generation. Speaking of Grandpa Jack. Twice a year we drive past Camp Douglas in WI. That's where Jack was stationed when he was deployed to the Mexican Boarder (Pancho Villa) and when he was shipped to France for the war to end all wars. There's a WI Nat. Guard Museum with all the records. I need to stop and check that out.
I wonder how the WWII generation felt about the WWI generation.
Interesting twist, thanks Donna!

Steve said...

Isn't it strange how we've gone from defending our borders and "the Greatest Generation" to cheap sound bites and arguments over which candidate's spouse would make a better first lady?

And maybe "sad" is better than "strange".

By the way, I have never tried to call Bettie "Be". Doubt I'm going to start now.

Mark Aubrey said...

Don't forget Ken Burns' The War on PBS starting Sunday.