Lost in the mist of time

  It seems that speech has changed a good bit in the past few generations.  Some old letters of my mom's were shown to my two youngest kids (who are adults now) and all I heard were fits of giggles. A few of these letters were ones that were exchanged between Mom, (Ruth) who was away at college, and her little sister, Helen.  Helen was still in high school at the time.  Ruth and Helen had their own "language" that started as verbal conversations during their childhood but then spilled over through college years.  Why, as matter of fact, even some of the letters and conversations in their later years contained snippets of phrases that made no sense to the rest of the world. They were the only ones who knew the meaning of their made-up words. One of the words that caused hysterics was "gaddlelack".  We never really figured out what the word meant but, invariably, it was in almost every letter that was exchanged between the two young girls.  Even in one of the final letters ever to be sent, the word was scribbled on the sidelines and then stated to be a household word with Helen's grandkids.  Another thing that struck my kids as being cute was the nicknames of "Bo" (Ruth) and "Mo" (Helen).

  Another comical bit written by Helen was the explanation of the stars and moon.  She stated that her class was studying the stars and Mars but that her teacher had it all wrong.  She went on to explain that stars were actually the Moon's eggs and space was a large nest.  When an egg became rotten, the moon would kick it out of the nest thus creating falling stars!  Wow!  I have never heard space explained as such and figured that I would have liked studying astronomy a lot more if that was what was taught!

  One of the last letters that my mom received from Helen was heartbreaking.  She managed to put on a cheery act but told of how she was hurting and how easy it would be to just give up.  This letter, like the others, did contain a bit of their "language" but was a far cry from the comical creations of their younger days.  I sat reading through this bunch of papers and realized that I was watching their entire lives play out before my eyes.  From happy youngsters, to young women, to old ladies..these two kept their close relationship strong through written letters.  Then I thought of emails, texts, phone messages, digital photographs and realized what the world is missing.  My grandchildren will not have the insight of my life like my kids got today of their grandmother and their great-aunt.  Things will be lost as we are becoming more a people of the moment with nothing lasting to pass on to our kids and grandkids.  No longer will it be a rite of passage to sit looking at paper photographs.  No longer will letters be read and reread.  No longer will secret "languages" be shared from generation to generation.  A lot will be lost due to this thing called progress.  A lot will be lost forever.