Changes...

I think of myself today as what is laughingly called a ‘groovy Grannie,' my two kids are all grown up, and I’m very lucky to have two gorgeous grandchildren.  My grandson thinks I’m very old, but I quickly correct him – after all he is very young!

I was born at the end of the Baby Boomer generation.  Growing up was great, lots of freedoms that kids today don’t have but without some of the amazing opportunities kids today have.  My parents worked hard to give us a happy home life and a good education. 

I used to marvel at all of the amazing changes that occurred during my Mother’s life, and recently I’ve started to reflect on some of the changes that I’ve been witness too.  Every day we watch and listen to the news, and we tend to forget that historians will look back at these events and they will take on whole new meanings. 

I was eleven years old when Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, huddled around the small television in the borders common room at my school, we watched this remarkable feat and then, we just went on with our normal day, we certainly didn’t realise the significance of that moment.  Later came the final Australian withdrawal from Vietnam and the end of the conflict which not only divided Vietnam but Australia.

Later still came the end of the Cold War and the breaking up of the Soviet Block,  the opening up of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany.  Then there was the terrible spectacle of tanks running over protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.  1989 was certainly a year of highs and lows. Today I have travelled to Berlin and Beijing enjoying both trips, but inside me, I was conscious of earlier memories of a time when life, especially for the locals was so much more difficult.

So if I had been writing this to my younger self then I would have harped on about the need to take it all in, history is being made all around us, today more than ever before the world is changing at an amazing rate. Things that today seem commonplace are likely to change and you probably won't see that change coming so enjoy it while you can, life is just a great roller coaster of a ride...enjoy.