(that’s me in the bottom left, my grandfather is in the top right)
My paternal grandfather passed away in the summer of 2001, the year I graduated from Drake University and began my professional career. Thankfully, I was able to see him a few weeks before he passed away. He was a BRILLIANT man. There wasn’t a problem that man couldn’t solve if he put his mind to it. I’m pretty sure my, “there has got to be a better way of doing this” attitude was passed down to me from him. He was also a rascally old cuss as well and was more than willing to tell you how he felt about anything he had an opinion on. I have caught myself several times since he passed away wondering what he would think about the world we live in today. This is my letter to him, explaining where we find ourselves in 2021…
Grandpa,
You wouldn’t believe what the world has become like since you left…Remember how you used to work for Phillips Petroleum as an electrician, even working on Frank Phillps’ electric model train? You won’t believe it, but I work for Phillips 66 now.
Remember those things called computers? You never had one in your house, but would you believe my phone is more powerful than any computer you ever encountered and it fits in my pocket? I can now have a video chat with anyone I want to anywhere in the world instantaneously because of the internet that was just gaining traction while you were still alive. It was my daughter’s birthday this week and mom got to watch Abbie unwrap her presents even though we are in Owasso and she’s in St. Louis! When I was in India back in 2019 I could video call with my wife (I wish you would have gotten to meet her!) even though there was an 11.5 hour time difference between us and I was half a world away.
Remember how Jason and I used to have to be so quiet during the drive through Tulsa when we went to visit you because you were super cautious about our safety? You wouldn’t believe it, but we’re starting to see cars that can drive themselves so that people don’t even have to pay attention.
You used to watch the news every night, now between the major news networks broadcasting 24 hours a day, the internet, and these apps (computer programs that run on our phones) called Facebook, Twitter, and others we now have “news” (really, a lot of it is just someone spouting off their opinion) constantly at our fingertips. You would think it would make us more informed but really it just makes everyone frustrated all the time with people they don’t agree with.
Grandpa, you wouldn’t believe it, but shortly after you died, I went to work for a medical software company that has helped advance patient care drastically, yet in 2020 and into 2021 a new virus has ravaged the world and created a global pandemic like the 1918 flu pandemic you learned about in school. The pandemic forced the world to shut down which meant for a lot of the last year my kids have done a significant portion of their schooling completely virtual (through a computer screen, a video call with their whole classroom).
The pandemic started with a worldwide “kumbaya, we can get through anything” moment as the world banded together to beat this virus, but you wouldn’t believe how isolated people became because of it, sitting alone or with just their family watching movies or working completely remotely over the internet and gobbling up news and opinions all day long. Partner the isolation with the fact that 2020 was an election year in the United States and we were sitting on a powder keg ready to explode.
Then, the world watched as a white police officer knelt on a black man’s neck for nine minutes while he cried out for his momma and the fuse ignited and the world cried out, “WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH!” George Floyd was not the only person of color to tragically lose their life unjustly last year but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back and has led to some really good and VERY necessary conversations about systemic racism and the way our society’s laws and policies are stacked against people who are not white. The really sad part is, as time progressed the conversations and the fact we were having then became another issue that divided us as a country.
As November rolled around bringing with it the US presidential election things got even dicier. Fueled by misinformation and wild accusations on both sides tempers flared even hotter and on January 6th, 2021 the unthinkable happened, a mob of people, in the name of patriotism, stormed the US Capitol during a sitting session of Congress, all while the world watched.
We’ve got several vaccines now to help us fight the virus and some people are projecting that things might be back to normal soon, but grandpa, you wouldn’t believe where we’re at and how we got ourselves into this mess, too many people talking and definitely not enough people listening. I could really use your wisdom right now. I’m trying to be a voice of reason and banding together with like-minded folks looking for solutions instead of just complaining about all of the problems, but sometimes it’s just hard grandpa. I’m trying to make you proud, but I’m also trying to make this world a place I’m proud to hand over to my children and their generation.
I miss you, grandpa,
Jeff
I’ve often heard it said, “if you wouldn’t treat your grandmother like that, don’t treat anyone else that way either,” but honestly a better question might be, “would your grandparents be proud of who you are online, would your children be proud when they’re older if they saw the things you post online and the way you talk to/about other people?”