My oldest living relative is my great grandmother. As a matter of fact, it is hard to place her exact year of birth but gauging from the nature of the accounts he gives of her life, he possible period of birth could be at the turn of the century. She has quite a vivid memory and though age has worn down on her memory, she still is capable of giving some vivid accounts on some of the happenings that took place while she was young, through her childhood and adolescent years.
Her memory of the two world wars is equally sharp and she gives detailed and clear narration on the same, which is quite different from what can be read in the books. From her narration, it is easy to apprehend the fear that the people at the age lived in. she also gives details on the devastating effects of the great depression and the manner in which it affected our people to a point of total desperation. The cold war is also part of her favorite narrations as she tries to explain to us what the real experience was as opposed to what we get in the books.
She is a very sociable individual who enjoys the company of her great grandchildren. It is through this closeness to her that I have come to learn quite a lot about the past of our people and our country. I must admit that hearing this from an old woman who witnessed it all is quite different from getting the information from the best libraries or even lectures. An actual narration of the events from the horse’s mouth is quite interesting as one can read the reactions, feelings and thoughts about these happenings based on the reaction of the old woman as she details it.
Among the things that I have learnt from my great grandmother, besides the historical concepts, is on the issue of relationships and communication with others. First of all, she is quite disappointed at the modern way in which we socialize. She notes that modern channels such as social sites like twitter, face book, photo bucket, Picasa and others ca be quite misleading. Not even the lengthy phone calls or texts seem to please her one bit. In her own words, this is not the right way to carry through a relationship. She is inclined to the idea that face to face communication is more effective. It is through such methods that an individual can get to know the partner even more; whether a business partner or a potential romantic partner. She argues that the reason as to why the morals and values in the society have collapsed is mainly because the people have neglected the right way of doing things. They seek the easy way out; but they never succeed. This could explain why there are so many social evils as well as family breakdowns. This is something that was very rare in her time.
On the issue of feminism, she still believes that the man and woman are different and there is no way they can be equal. Her idea is that they should be complimentary to each other but not supplementary. She also holds that the woman has an upper hand in making sure that her family stands. In her argument, the modernization which calls for gender equality has made women neglect their roles in taking care of their families. They have forced the men to come in and do what they are not supposed to do. As a result, there arises a conflict in the families as the woman does not know her position. In her opinion, this is the reason as to why there are so many cases of divorce as well as marriages of convenience.
She is quiet liberal on the issue of cultures as she believes that people should always strive to live in harmony with each other. For this reason, she argues that the people should dissolve their differences and look upon each other as equals. She relates this to the manner in which she witnessed the African Americans and other minor communities suffering during her time. They were seen as second rate human beings who could be mistreated. In her opinion, this is quite inhumane. It is for this reason that she argues that even as the issue of globalization kicks in, the people should be ready to accommodate each other and live together in perfect harmony. After all, the difference between the different people just lies in the color of their skin. Deep inside, they are all human.
Her greatest concern is the fact that the modern society does not seem to have amoral fiber or conscience. She argues that the moral and ethical systems that used to be observed within the society are no longer respected. People engage in every kind of immorality without fear or concern. This really disappoints her, especially when she compares it back to her age. As she airs her issues about different aspects of the modern day life, I always wonder how it would have felt like being young at her age. It leaves me in a dilemma as to whether I should be happy to have been born in this age, or I should envy her for the kind of world she was born into.
