Birthday Zero
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
As promised we had a new addition to our family in the form of this little girl. She’s my daughter Christy’s daughter. Her official name is still undecided Katherine , but I’m calling her either ‘Christy Junior’ or ‘Revenge’.
I was holding this little critter and reflecting that I was standing on the midpoint of a huge span of time. I had the great good fortune of knowing all four of my grandparents. They were all born in the late 1890s.
My grandparents were born into a world lite only by fire. There was no such thing as airplanes or penicillin. Telephones and cars were curiosities one read about in magazines. When my grandparents were kids and wanted to go somewhere, they walked or rode an animal. The first motion picture camera was patented in France, the X-Ray was discovered.
When I was born in 1952 Stalin had one day to live. Polio vaccine was discovered. The first jet powered airliner began scheduled service. Dwight Eisenhower won the Presidential election. The kind of people who today are buying iPhones then were then buying television sets. When I was born my parents sent telegrams, long distance calls being prohibitively expensive. I learned about Christy Jr when her picture appeared in my cell phone.
Christy Junior will almost certainly live to see 2077, and has an excellent chance of partying like it’s 2099. What kind of world will that be? Today’s world is way better than 1895, and I really think that 2077 will be much better than today.
I’m sorry I won’t be there to see it, but I’m very happy that there is a good chance that someone in 2077 may remember me.
As promised we had a new addition to our family in the form of this little girl. She’s my daughter Christy’s daughter. Her official name is still undecided Katherine , but I’m calling her either ‘Christy Junior’ or ‘Revenge’.
I was holding this little critter and reflecting that I was standing on the midpoint of a huge span of time. I had the great good fortune of knowing all four of my grandparents. They were all born in the late 1890s.
My grandparents were born into a world lite only by fire. There was no such thing as airplanes or penicillin. Telephones and cars were curiosities one read about in magazines. When my grandparents were kids and wanted to go somewhere, they walked or rode an animal. The first motion picture camera was patented in France, the X-Ray was discovered.
When I was born in 1952 Stalin had one day to live. Polio vaccine was discovered. The first jet powered airliner began scheduled service. Dwight Eisenhower won the Presidential election. The kind of people who today are buying iPhones then were then buying television sets. When I was born my parents sent telegrams, long distance calls being prohibitively expensive. I learned about Christy Jr when her picture appeared in my cell phone.
Christy Junior will almost certainly live to see 2077, and has an excellent chance of partying like it’s 2099. What kind of world will that be? Today’s world is way better than 1895, and I really think that 2077 will be much better than today.
I’m sorry I won’t be there to see it, but I’m very happy that there is a good chance that someone in 2077 may remember me.
