I Do Not Belong in this Century....

     I do not belong in this century.  After spending a week with Tami and my grandchildren, this fact has smacked me in the face once again. It is so true. I was sitting at the kitchen table while the kids were working on their homework. That is the only thing that hasn't changed, the kitchen table. However, if I had not been here they would have all been in their rooms.  I asked them where their books were and I was informed they no longer use books they have I Pads. Really???   How can a person develop a love for the written word if they never hold or read, or smell a book? I am one of those people who highlight a wonderful sentence with a yellow high lighter. It can be done on these gadgets but I have yet to see it used. I reread books I can hold. They have become friends who brought me pleasure and answers when I needed them most.
   I have a Kindle and it has about 400 books. Most of the books purchased in the last two years are about cancer, depression, anxiety, hope for patients, how to be a good caregiver and what to expect when it comes to dying.  I read until I could not read anymore. I will never read these books again. I also do not think I will delete them. That was part of our lives for a long time.
   We dropped that subject and they showed me their math or what- ever it is called now. I got up and fixed me a bowl of ice cream. I needed a stiff drink but ice cream would have to suffice. There is no way they could make me understand the necessity of why they had to learn what I saw before my eyes. I got up to go set on the front porch and ponder what I had witnessed at the table. They all understood it perfectly and it made sense to them. Thank goodness because in a few years they will be running the world.
    When I came back in I told them I did not want a vacuum cleaner that will vacuum on demand. They have one now that is round and runs around the house like a grounded spaceship. They looked at each other and laughed. I did too.  We coexist in two different worlds. I like mine better and they prefer theirs. That is fine with me. I am missing all the knowledge they already know. They are missing using their imaginations, daydreaming and wondering about all the what if's.
   This generation is so much smarter than I am. However, they never experienced drinking homemade lemonade while sitting on a porch swing reading, "Gone With the Wind" on a hot July day.
   It is a trade-off. They will make the world better and do things I never thought of doing. I, however, had a real childhood. They do too it is just miles and miles apart in this short time span on Earth.