it's hip to be square...
I was thinking on the way into work this morning about the fact that both of my parents were born in 1946. This means that my dad was 28 when I was born and my mum was 27. By the time that they were my age, my parents had 3 children.
I don’t really compare my life with that of my parents, and I don’t gauge my self-worth on whether or not I am married and have children, so this doesn’t really bother me at all. What I did find interesting though was the train of thought that this nugget prompted… My parents were 20 when England won the World Cup in 1966. They were 23 and living in “Swinging London” during the Summer of Love. They will remember when “Sergeant Pepper” was released and when the Beatles split up…. Loads of stuff.
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
They grew up in a pretty formative time in British and World history, and it’s only just occurred to me that I have not asked them about any of these things. Not once. It’s not that I think they were figureheads of the counter-culture or anything, and they were probably pretty square, to be honest – my mum was working as a nurse and my Dad was studying to be a Doctor (he was a contemporary of future-Python Graham Chapman at medical school - another thing I’ve never asked him about). It’s just that they were there, and I’ve been too busy thinking of them as my parents to be really interested in their lives.
I must ask them about it at the first opportunity. Life’s short, and they might just surprise me.
---
4,330 words, by the way.
I don’t really compare my life with that of my parents, and I don’t gauge my self-worth on whether or not I am married and have children, so this doesn’t really bother me at all. What I did find interesting though was the train of thought that this nugget prompted… My parents were 20 when England won the World Cup in 1966. They were 23 and living in “Swinging London” during the Summer of Love. They will remember when “Sergeant Pepper” was released and when the Beatles split up…. Loads of stuff.
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
They grew up in a pretty formative time in British and World history, and it’s only just occurred to me that I have not asked them about any of these things. Not once. It’s not that I think they were figureheads of the counter-culture or anything, and they were probably pretty square, to be honest – my mum was working as a nurse and my Dad was studying to be a Doctor (he was a contemporary of future-Python Graham Chapman at medical school - another thing I’ve never asked him about). It’s just that they were there, and I’ve been too busy thinking of them as my parents to be really interested in their lives.
I must ask them about it at the first opportunity. Life’s short, and they might just surprise me.
---
4,330 words, by the way.
posted by swisslet @ 09:58
9 Comments:
At 10:51 am,
adem said…
Do you think that if you have kids they'll say stuff like "wow dad was there when the computer and internet revolution took off"...mmmm.. I'm trying to think of more revolutionary things.....
If you do ask your parents questions make sure they don't start of with "I remember when it was all fields round here"....and...."in my day".
At 11:43 am,
John McClure said…
At least, if and when you have kids of your own, you can simply direct them to the Blog instead of having to actually tell them stories.
I went to Paris for a long weekend with my mother when I was 24. I think it may have been the first time I'd spent any time with her away from the rest of the family. It seems ridiculous now, but I was shocked to discover that she was a person and there were lots of things I didn't know about her and her life.
OK, so most of those things I wish I still didn't know, but some of them were interesting without being gross.
At 3:25 pm,
LB said…
my mum went out with Steve Winwood for about eighteen months when he was lead singer with the Spencer Davis Group (two UK number one singles, fact fans.) Joe Cocker once sang to her in a room above a pub in Manchester. Nick Mason from Pink Floyd (who she didnt like very much) once abandoned her at a motorway service station and drove off in his Ferrari. She went out with the drummer from the Move for a while, also.
Parents have some great tales, and I guarantee they would surprise you.
[Great lyric, by the way, another quality track from the album that gave you and C your first snog song, as I recall... heh heh heh]
At 4:17 pm,
red one said…
yeah, ask them about their lives. You never know what they might come up with. And even if you don't end up with nuggets of pure excitement, they might really appreciate you taking an interest in them as people with a non-parent side to their lives. That's worth something in itself.
red
At 5:17 pm,
Aravis said…
I love hearing stories of the things my parents got up to. Getting to know them as people is one of the best things about growing up I think.
Our generation saw the birth of cable and satellite television, VCR's and MTV, cell phones and, yes, the personal computer complete with internet. We seem to be more technologically-minded than revolutionary in the sense our parents were.
Good luck with your novel!
At 5:31 pm,
HistoryGeek said…
My mom loves to tell stories about when my dad was in the Army and they were moving around. Probably the most significant of which is that they were in Germany a year after the wall went up in Berlin, and were there when Kennedy was assassinated. Also my dad missed being stationed with Elvis in Germany by one day. Their Germany experiences loom largest, I think, because it's the only international travel/living they've done...and they married there.
At 8:31 pm,
-L said…
I tried to memorize that song once upon a time! It's a bit tricky. :) Also, it's a bit of tongue-twister when you try to sing it. But I love it nonetheless.
My parents are people? Really? *ponders this deep phenomenon*
At 10:58 pm,
Pynchon said…
I asked my Mom once about what she thought of the swinging sixties.
Her answer?
She couldn't remember much about them because she was too busy.
Bloody woman!
At 6:41 am,
Turners in the Country said…
Wow, I want LB's mom, she sounds like a woman who's had quite a life!
I must ask my parents about their lives one of these days too. In the last few years I've begun asking my Gran & Grandad about their lives, and they have quite a few tales. When I started taking a French class my Grandad told me a few of the French phrases he still remembered after being stationed in France during WWII. My favorite was 'Would you like to take a ride in my jeep?'. I'm sure that came in handy with the ladies a few times!!
Post a Comment
<< Home