Strangers In The Box Come look with me inside this drawer, In this box I've often seen, At the pictures, black and white, Faces proud, still, and serene. I wish I knew the people, These strangers in the box, Their names and all their memories, Are lost among my socks. I wonder what their lives were like, How did they spend their days? What about their special times? I'll never know their ways. If only someone had taken time, To tell who, what, where, and when, These faces of my heritage, Would come to life again. Could this become the fate, Of the pictures we take today? The faces and the memories, Someday to be passed away? Take time to save your stories, Seize the opportunity when it knocks, Or someday you and yours, Could be strangers in the box. Author Unknown

If you could see your ancestors all standing in a row,  Would you be proud of them, or don't you really know? Some strange discoveries are made in climbing family trees.  And some of them you know do not particularly please. If you could see your ancestors all standing in a row, There might be some of them perhaps you would not care to know. But there is another question which requires a different view, If you could see your ancestors, would they be proud of YOU ?!

Pondering

The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven. Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the twenty-first most populous state in the Union. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average wage in the U.S. was twenty-two cents an hour. The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2500 per year, a veterinarian between $1500 and $4000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at home. Ninety percent of all U.S. physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard." Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee cost fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason, either as travelers or immigrants. The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke. The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet. Drive-by-shootings -- in which teenage boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything else that caught their fancy -- were an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was thirty. The remote desert community was inhabited by only a handful of ranchers and their families. Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. One in ten U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Some medical authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt to become sexually aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the sewing machine's foot pedals. They recommended slipping bromide -- which was thought to diminish sexual desire -- into the woman's drinking water. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine. Punch card data processing had recently been developed, and early predecessors of the modern computer were used for the first time by the government to help compile the 1900 census. Eighteen percent of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic. There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually.

100 YEARS AGO (1900)

Moments By Max Griffith Who can catch a moment And hold it in their hand? A golden precious slice of life Yet just a grain of sand. A grain of sand so precious, though, That no wealth for it we’d trade. But hold it closely to our breasts This moment that God has made. Yet each of us have moments We hold in memories dear Moments that we’ve plucked from life And carefully placed in here. As years go by we slowly add To what we have inside Till memory after memory in our hearts reside. And when we’ve reached those winter days That tell our time is near. We share these precious moments With those who’ve sense to hear. Yes, there are those who’ll laugh and jeer, And say they do not care. But there are those who’ll linger close And treasure what you share. So keep your legacy intact And hold your memories dear For those who know of their great worth and cherish what they hear.

Should We Forget By Max Griffith Some say its best not to remember what happened yesterday they say the past is dead and gone its better to leave it that way Should we forget that we live each day by the grace of God above who keeps this mighty universe in place with the power of his love Should we forget the young men who've died to keep us free in some strange and hostle land far across the sea Should we forget the moms and dads who gave us life so dear and did their best to teach us right as long as they were here Should we forget the joys we've known as we've traveled thru this life or even forget the tears we've shed in times of trouble, sorrow and strife No, we can't forget these things we must remember them all for on these we've built our lives on these we stand or fall There have been times so drear we wouldn't want to see again times that have wrenched our souls with grief, sorrow and pain But in these times, we learned to stand and bear the awful blow in these times, we found the strength to rise above our woe So let those who will forget what life's about let them relive their mistakes and face the future with doubt We'll go on secure in the knowledge that we have life's precious pearls locked inside where remembering is the key

If I Only Knew Your Name

By Ramona (Griffith) Phipps I will never touch your hand Nor gaze upon your face. I wish I knew your name But you are gone without a trace. You lived your life on earth And gave birth to my forebear. Now your memory is gone. Someone didn't take time to care. For those who didn't pass it on You thought nobody would forget You knew who your granddaddy was But didn't have time to talk about it just yet. Vanishing into the dust Is the future for all man. I will continue to search for you And find out all I can. I will never know what you were like Or if we looked the same. But a part of you would not be gone If I only knew your name.

"Memories"