Lessons from Our Grandparents

By some accounts, I’m one of the lucky ones. At different stages in life I knew all four of my grandparents.

My memory of both sets of grandparents was after they retired. For my dad’s mom, retirement was relative. So far as I knew, she was a stay-at-home Amish/Mennonite woman who could outwork a lot of men in the 21st century.

That’s just the way it was done. Men worked the farm, or whatever outside, and women managed the house and the children. That’s just the way it was.

The few times I was at their house, she was known for her cooking; old style, taking what seemed like an empty cupboard and producing a three-course meal.

One of my early visits to my mom’s parents was a little different. They, too, were retired, but still farmers at heart. I was young enough to be intrigued by a true cellar with wood shelves stocked full of canned this and that, and cool enough in any weather to keep the rainy day supplies healthy. They also had a few chickens in their backyard. I often wondered if the chicken coop was just to keep grandpa busy. But the truth is he could find as much to do as his mind would allow.

I remember he always wandered the kitchen, checking his pocket watch like the rabbit late for an appointment.

Years later I heard people who can and store food as preppers. At first I kind of laughed thinking “for a tornado, a snow storm, World War III (back when the concept was much more remote)?” Who would have thought we would be in a state in time when social media platforms republish pictures and videos of grocery stores with thin or empty shelves? Who would have thought the U.S, still referred to as the leader of the Free World, is lacking resources like a Third World location rationing the purchase of groceries?

Fortunately, at a cursory observation the “prairie flood” has not hit our area yet. Most of our shelves are still healthy although prices are increasing.

Maybe it is time we recall how our grandparents and great-grandparents lived. With chicken and therefore eggs are threatened, beef and like products because meat plants are mysteriously going up in flames, what did the previous generations do when meat and food staples became rare? They became skilled at bartering, raising their own foods, likely pop-up farmers markets… whatever creativity was needed to keep the family eating.

They didn’t expect the government to send them a check.

We’re at the point in society if we wait for the answer, we might have other problems develop before the first is answered. Maybe we need to return to being grateful for what we have, and stretching each dollar until it cries in pain before breaking.

Some people used to laugh at a “farmer’s ingenuity.” The reality is that is how things got done. I’ve been places where the two by six used as a makeshift scaffolding was later cut to prop up a new brick wall. Still later, it was trimmed to serve as a form for more cement work. By the end of the day, there was barely enough wood left to start a cooking fire. The lesson was use everything until it is completely spent, and it has nothing left to give.