CENTURY IN THE REARVIEW
Thursday, July 21, 2022
A century ago today, it was post-Spanish flu-pandemic, post=WWI, and the roaring twenties, and looking back, wondering what it was like is a question most of us never asked of our parents or grandparents because we didn’t expect the answer to be essential for us now. Oh my, if we’d only asked.
And for me, today is a particular reason to look back because my father, Hubert Kolke, was born on this day, a century ago. If he were still alive, he’d be 100 today.
I don’t know if it’s weird or not to celebrate someone’s birthday after they’re gone; it seems our culture thinks that’s OK.
For me, it’s a day of reflection on what he meant to me.
Most of my best memories, the clearest ones, are among the most recent in the later years of his life when I spent more time with him than I ever had.
I’ve written about him often, so regular readers might have a sense of who he was and how important he has been to me in life. And, in death, I often want to call him and tell him the events of the day, or about something interesting that happened, or something I learned, or someone I met.
In my life, nobody influenced me more or for as long as he did.
Lately, I have many questions in my mind, ones I wish I’d asked him, my aunts and uncles, or my grandmother – who knew what they knew and what I could have learned.
Reader feedback:
This was a great read Mark. I think “not enough“ is not enough only in comparison to others. The person you spoke to likely thinks he has everything he needs. He could have more education, more money, but might not have more happiness or satisfaction as a result, HM, Calgary, AB