By: Jennifer Richardson Holt
It all began with a lemonade commercial. This particular brand has stuck with a certain motto for years now and I completely understand why. It is really just a perfect slogan that is unbelievably endearing. I don’t even think I was technically watching tv, it may have even been on the radio. I know the sound of the commercial came in my periphery of my hearing. It most certainly got me thinking. The phrase that piqued my interest was, “The good ole’ days are being made right now.” First off, props to the marketing department for that one because it’s genius. But beyond the product appeal, it’s actually very true. I had always liked the ad but never gave it the thought that it probably deserves. I hope to remedy that here.
This past weekend my family and I went on a train ride. We rode an antique train on an old line that took us through corn fields and pastures and to the hometown of a former president. The train trip was mostly for my daughter. She was very enamored by the idea of riding on a train. She didn’t really have much interest in seeing a former President’s childhood home but to be able to say she had ridden a real train was far more appealing to her. I had been on trains before but, I got to be there and see my daughter take her first train ride, and as it happens, she got to witness her daddy have his first train ride as well. I watched her look out the window as the Georgia countryside went by. I watched her be giddy when we walked to the snack car, and not just because she was getting a snack and a souvenir train whistle. She loved the rocking of the cars and outright said that she liked the challenge of walking despite the movement. That girl. I tell you.
One stop on this train ride was a farmhouse from the twenties that was where this former president spent much of his childhood. It was preserved in its historic state. This was a home, some barns and outbuildings, chicken houses, and the general store nearby that I am thinking was a replica of the one the boy president’s family owned. (Yes, that’s right, if I’m honest I wasn’t paying nearly as much attention as I should have been, but he wasn’t a favorite president, and I was more worried about the limited amount of time before the train left and being sure my whole group was on the train when it departed.) My daughter walked through this house somewhat uninterested. I asked if she knew what the pots sitting by the beds were. And when I told her, well, she was horrified to say the least. She walked through the second half of that house turned museum and could do nothing but comment how living in that way was terrible.
The thing is, I knew that actually, even for the times in which we were remembering, this was actually a pretty good scenario. I mean, the president had a couple of siblings and yet he had his own room. While there was an outhouse, at some point they did get indoor plumbing and actually had a bathroom in the house. You see, while obviously, I never experienced this life, I have heard the tales of my mother and father. They weren’t nearly this far back in time and yet, they were multiple siblings to a room and indoor plumbing wasn’t a thing for them until long after it was standard for a home to have such. So actually, contrary to my daughter’s disdainful opinion, the life we were looking at wasn’t all that bad for its time period.
As I walked outside watching my daughter fawn over chickens, because obviously, chickens, I couldn’t help but consider how she has no clue of two things. One: she doesn’t know what a terrible living is because quite frankly she is so far removed from it that it would be like asking her to know what it’s like to live on Saturn. And two: these really are, what I will look back on in the distant future, as the good ole’ days. I will remember making memories with my family and friends riding an old train with a little girl that will not always be so little. I will look back on her being appalled by life that isn’t nearly as bad as her sheltered mind imagines. I will chuckle as her favorite part of riding historic trains and seeing historic sites, was the snacks and chatting with the chickens. Again, props to the lemonade people because they’re right. The good ole’ days are being made right now.
Prose and Possibilities 
That was a very interesting blog and loved hearing about Avery’s experience. Our family was lucky and never had an outdoor toilet but have visited homes that did not have one. Enjoy all your experiences and write them down so Avery will have them forever.
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