Thinking of The Past

I wonder what people did after eye surgery, before continuous, 24 hour satellite TV and computers with adjustable font size?

I remember back in say 1966 my grandmother had cataract surgery on her eyes. I think she had them both done at once. Of course this is back in the days before they inserted lenses back into the eyes. This meant that once you had healed you wore those thick coke bottle glasses that made your eyes look far too large for your face!

After Gram’s cataract surgery she had to lie perfectly still on a chaise for several weeks. Her recovery was much worse and much harder than mine. TV was only on from 6 AM until say 1 AM. They did not have books on tape, and computers? Lets face it, back then one simple computer took up an entire building and all it could do was a series of mathematical calculations. E-mail? What e-mail.

Gram didn’t seem to care. I think she must have had an incredible imagination. I remember going over to see her and talk to her and tell her all about my school day.

Papa would put drops in her eyes, in such a loving manner and he would bring her tea or lemonade. Whatever she wanted.

Have you ever seen the movie, “When Peggy Sue Got Married”? I love that movie because in it, when Peggy Sue is tossed back in time, she goes to visit her much loved grandparents. She gets to talk to them again, to visit, to hear their voices, to feel their love, one more time.

I’ve thought a lot about my grandmother during this time. I can understand how she felt and what she went through. She was a kind, happy woman who loved her family more than anything.

I still miss her.

7 thoughts on “Thinking of The Past”

  1. This was very important to you and also very stressful. These are the times, no matter what age, we need a hug from someone like our grandmother. She sounds like she was wonderful.

    Take care,
    Connie

  2. How incredibly sweet of you.
    Sometimes no matter how tough we like to think we are, we still need to be comforted.
    Hugs baby.
    ♥Pam

  3. Hi Mom,
    Hope you are having a good day so far, and are continuing to feel even better. Your eye is definitely looking better, and nice to see that there is not residual redness in the eye itself! Looking good!
    Hope you have a great rest of your day!
    Love,
    Mandy

  4. You are looking great. Tefchnology is a blessing (look how wonderful you eye is healing and how it was just day surgery right? and look at how we can communicate and amuse ourselves easier. But often times I wonder similar things to what you ask. What have we lost in the process? Some imagination perhaps? Some amount of actual human interaction? The ability to “entertain ourselves” as my nana used to say?

    I think we all have a lot to learn from those who have lived in times before ours. I miss my grandpas too.

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