I don't have many memories of my Grandfather on my father's side. He died when I was about nine years old. He had came to this country from Hungry as a very young boy, around 5 years old. He never spoke Hungarian and none of my his children, all 13 of them didn't either. However, I only learn recently that he did not become a US citizen until his mid 30s and that it was one of the proudest days of his life.
He knew my Grandmother, born in the US, since childhood and she steadfast wouldn't have anything to do with him until they began dating in their early 20s. I'm told they were never apart for one night and despite 13 kids always found alone time (maybe too much given that number of kids.) Through the Depression my Grandfather had the unique luck of working for the Coast Guard as a ship repairman. That would have been my father's life had he not gotten drafted into WW2 and eventually attended college on the GI bill.
I'm told that my Grandfather became very depressed in life after the death of my Grandmother and eventually died of a broken heart. I remember him having out dollar bills to what had to be nearly 70 grandchildren. He'd always tell us not to tell Mom or Dad, it was his treat.
I guess my Grandfather was the successful Immigrant story. American all the way and working hard to bring up a nice family. My aunts and uncles, some of them now gone were the most honorable people I've ever met. The older I get the more I miss that huge extended family and realize how lucky I was to be able to be molded by such greatness. Certainly my zest to understand life and the truth about topical events was driven by the discussions I witness as a kid.
If we truly do rejoin our lost ones when we die I really will enjoy telling my Grandfather what an amazing job he and Grandma did raising 13 very bright, caring and respectful people. Nothing I want more than to be sitting in a that chain again hearing the most riveting debates and discussions.
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Consider this: You create a car, and to reproduce the car you have to do all of the things all over again, the steel, iron, aluminum, glass, plastic, etc. Or you invent a piece of software, and the only thing you need to do to generate another one is to copy it to another disk or flash drive. From which can you make more money?
You gear up and design assembly lines for cars, or you just copy the software from one computer to another. Now look at who is super-rich because they created something new. The money is in digital, not manufacturing, because once designed, the cost of copies is tiny compared to the sale price, and compared with something like a car. Still wondering who is getting rich and how?
Now compare that to what was once a typical US mainstream town. Town centers were for socializing and gathering of friends and families. Streets were safe and people could move about without fear. There was an adequate tax base to remove trash, maintain infrastructure and have sufficient police protection.
So what town would you want to live in?
Im glad you were able to pay such tribute to your Grandfather.
My grandfathers both fought in WWII.
But my great-grandfather, in the same age bracket as your grandpa, had 8 kids and a small farm and suddenly wife left him and took all 8 kids to inner city Chicago (and ripped herself out of their wedding pic and took that half with her) and worked to support all 8 kids herself, not very well I'd add, died in her 50's. I'd guess he did something....
Not everybody was a saint even way back around the turn of the century. Sounds like your grandpa was a good man.
And the advancement of the American middle age from about 1945 to 1975 was an aberration in history owing to American advantage after WW2: intact infrastructure and a relatively better educated workforce.
While I agree the US enjoyed certain global advantageous from 1945 to 1975 I also think a corporate driven state fixated on never ending profit growth has also destroyed our economy and society. The history of mankind has shown often that too much of a good thing is not good.