“Good Old Days”

My Mom was visiting my sister today, and my sister took a picture of Mom sitting at the table, smiling at the “camera”. It doesn’t get any better than that, your Mom smiling at you.

Were there ever “good old days” in human history?

I think there were, now and then, here and there, for some, seldom, if ever, for all.

I tend to scale “good old days” down to the more knowable and manageable scale of the individual. History as a subject, describing human activities in the past, is often written by those who prevailed, or by those who observed from a distance. I feel history as a subject makes a charming but unreliable mentor.

My “good old days” are moments scattered throughout the course of my life. The feel of a fresh diaper, and yes I do remember that. Mom’s Christmas baking, and the wonder of Christmas that was created by my Mom. Mom reciting poetry, telling stories, and singing to us as we lay in our beds, as she sat at the top of the stairs in our old farm house. My Granny and Mom reading us children’s stories as we lay in our beds, from the most recent farm magazine, at our Grandparent’s house. Playing in the sand and water at Granny’s Beach. Fishing with my Grandpa in the early morning on the quiet lake. Jumping into the lake from the then towering cliff (not really) called Hamm’s Rock. Hoeing strawberries on hot summer days with my Mom, in our farm fields. Cutting out paper dolls and clothes from the magical book purchased “in town”, after shopping with my Granny. Eating fresh fruit all day long on our farm, cherries, plums, strawberries, grapes. Well I could go on for almost ever I think, there are many moments in a life.

These “good old days” for me might not have been “good old days” for the people who shared those experiences with me, and that is the essence of being an individual, while belonging. For example, my younger brother told me his memories of my Granny and Grandpa’s house were completely different than mine… fair. I wish I had asked him to elucidate, to know his reality better, but that opportunity has passed.

Like many lives, mine has offered some very sad, traumatic, tragic, and horrifying times as well, perhaps to be thought of as “dark days”. And most of them are moments, sometimes brief, sometimes not.

For me the magic comes of being grateful for “good old days” or moments, understanding that they are what matter the most. I find that despite the dark days, many “good old days”, or moments, materialize. The trick is to notice these moments for what they are, to not lose them to the darkness that presses all around. They are more important than chaos, than religion, politics, international finance, should be scripts, or any other dark things that surround us, that seek to penetrate us.

My dear friend Pat used to smile lovingly and sardonically at me and say, “ah, Maggie’s Golden Memories”. And he was right on all counts, they are golden memories, real and tangible. They are most of what I am. The darkness, that is someone else’s creation, even if I have to live in it and deal with it, I will not make it my own.

Worldly

Weather

16°C
Date: 1:00 PM EDT Monday 25 May 2026
Condition: Partly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.0 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 15.8°C
Dew point: 14.2°C
Humidity: 90%
Wind: S 17 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family.”
Mother Teresa
1910 – 1997