the future.

I've talked to residents at work about growing up. most about 70-80.. some into thier 100's. It's amazing to realize how much the world has changed in thier lifetime.
One resident in particular: lived to 104. so, 1906; what was going on in 1906?
the first victrola is manufactured.
the first TB vaccination is developed.
a stamp cost 2 cents.
Kellog's corn flakes cereal hit the market. (instant coffe didn't debut until 1909)
Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture.. in 1910.

so for a woman who was born BEFORE the movies (as we know them).. what has she seen?

the invention of...
crossword puzzles (1912)
the Ford model T (1908)
the Bra (1913)
pop up toasters (1913)
"band-aide" (1920)
traffic signals (1923)
spiral bound notebooks (1924)
the aerosol can (1927)
scotch tape (1930)
"Monopoly" (1934)
Slinky and Silly Putty (1943).. you get the idea.

She'd seen two world wars, korea, vietnam ect...
she experienced men walk on the moon, women win the vote, the depression, airplanes, television microwaves...
That's a lot in 100 years or more.

It made me think about what I'll tell the 'younguns' when I'M 100.
let's see - 1988..
the comic strip FoxTrot debuts.
Microsoft releases Windows 2.1.
Reagan was president.
A stamp cost 22 cents.
gas was $1.08.
Human Genome project begins.

I got to experience the rise of the DVD, the CD, the iPod, the Mac. Digital cameras and the gradual faze from film cameras. I "survived" Y2K.

In the past 20ish years..

There was bird flu, swine flu, Hurricaine Katrina and the tsunami in sri lanka. Pluto getting nixed from the solar system. We caught up to Saddam but are still looking for Osama. Michael Phelps won an astounding 8 gold medals at the 2008 olympics. The cell phone. The rise of hybrid vehicles, and "global warming'. The Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Twilight and Transformers movies and or crazes. The birth of the Euro and reality TV. Facebook, myspace and twitter. Steriods becomes a major issue in sports. Two Words: taylor swift. Tiger woulds really screwed up as did many other famous men.. The end of the 'Motor City' and the auto industry. Mr. Clinton 'did not have sexual relations with that woman'.
While she remembers where she was when JFK was shot, I remember where I was when 9/11 happened. She remembers Marylin Monroe's death, me Michael Jackson.
There's so much I could add. I wonder if she ever thought to herself "whats this world coming to? What will it be like?" I don't think she saw the events, fads and inventions of the new millenium coming.
I can only wonder what I'll see in the next 50 years or so? Hard to think; kids these days don't know what a VHS or VCR is. Then again,I never listened to music on an 8 track or vinyl record. I can't imagine the day when people will say, "remember DVD's? Yeah, those are classic.. vintage."