Living History

This past Saturday my father-in-law celebrated his 94^th birthday. I use the word “celebrated” carefully. At his age, and in his state of health, “observed” might be more appropriate. However, my husband Bill and I went to spend part of the day with him to mark the occasion with cupcakes, silly cards and good cheer. Typically our visits with Charles take place en famille, with a gathering of excited grandchildren, their parents, in-laws, cousins, and even pets. This requires a lot of energy from us, let alone Charles, so we thought we’d leave the boisterous party to the kids the next day, and spend a quiet afternoon with Charles alone. And I do mean quiet.

 

A series of strokes have left him partially paralyzed and his speech deliberate and difficult. However, with just the three of us, he was almost chatty, and he and Bill reminisced about houses they had built and remodeled together, and trees they had planted and harvested over the years. Talk about living in extraordinary times --   Charles was born just before WWI and came out to California from rural Texas on the back of a neighbor’s truck in the Dust Bowl migration. He did itinerant farm labor, and later helped to build ships for the WWII effort in Point Richmond, just a few miles from where we live now. During the war he saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge, and spent part of that winter hiding in barns in Belgium, from what we’ve been able to piece together. Then he came home, found and married his pre-war sweetheart, bought some land and started a family at age 40. He has never been a talkative man, and like many of the “Greatest Generation,” didn’t spend much time discussing his war experiences or other hardships. 

 

In thinking about all the change that Charles has seen in his long life, I wonder, what extraordinary changes will take place during our children’s and grandchildren’s lives? This Wednesday, members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus will perform at the opening ceremonies of the President’s Cup golf tournament. President Bush, Sr., and President Clinton are expected to attend, and everyone hopes that President Obama will also be able to join them, but of course that depends on everything else happening in the world that day.

 

The young women of SFGC have already been part of history, having performed at President Obama’s inauguration last January. What other opportunities and experiences await them, and how will they help shape and change their world?    

 

"When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest."

Henry David Thoreau