Days Gone By

I am so fascinated by the past. I am especially interested in the lives of women. How wives and mamas lived, what they wore, and how they cared for their families.
My two favorite periods of time are the pioneer times (the Laura Ingalls Wilder in me) and the 1940's, particularly during WWII.
I am drawn to the pioneer times by the wonderful "Little House" books that we read daily in our home, the "Love Comes Softly" series of books and movies that I adore, and a sense that these simpler times, though hard, were so full of joy.
My love of the 1940's has come from my paternal grandma. She was a young bride during the onset of WWII. My grandfather did not go to war because of vision problems. (Praise God). My dad was born in 1944. My grandpa, a talented carpenter, built their first tiny home stick by stick, as used supplies became available, because building materials were so hard to come by. My sweet grandma still lives in that home today, although they did make it bigger as their family grew. I have heard so many stories from my grandma about the war, the rationing, the shortages, but all along she was just so grateful to have her little family and her little home.

I recently borrowed a sweet movie from the library called, "The Magic of Ordinary Days". It is a Hallmark movie and for the most part is family suitable. If you decide to watch it please preview it before letting your children watch the beginning, as it may raise questions. The rest of the movie I would say is just fine. The other series is "1940's house", a PBS series that shows the war from a British families point of view. It is very fascinating how they recreated the whole house just like the 40's.

I realize that overall these two periods of time were full of hard times. But families found joy. The circumstances forced people to be simple in their lives. They (hopefully) had all that they needed, and that was enough. Families made due. What is the old saying, "Use it up-wear it out-make it do!". I am also so interested in how we have come to this place as a society where we are so into overabundance, and that we feel entitled to live this way. How did it come to this?

All in all, I am so grateful to be living when I do, with our medical technology and advancements. We can learn so much though from how others have lived before us. That is ultimately what draws me to the past.

Have a very blessed weekend. After a week of rain we finally have sun! YAY!

In God's Love, Tami