The expression “My, how you have changed” was often heard when a friend or family member showed up after being unseen for quite a while. However, I haven’t heard it recently, since we keep in touch so frequently through the touch of a phone’s button. That’s just an example of the many changes we have seen – and are seeing – from day to day in our lifestyles.</p
p>Today, I want us to look at a few of the things that have changed in the last century. The reason I say a century is because I am a century old and have seen so many of these changes.</p
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The first thing on our list is the way we treat our elderly. In the early 1900s, when people reached the point of not being able to live alone any longer, some of the more fortunate ones went to live with their family, children or other relatives. The less fortunate went to what was called “the poor house.” I don’t know much about poor houses, but I do know they were not considered a desirable place.</p
p>How different the choices are for our elderly today. Personally, my lifestyle has changed drastically. Until recently, my wife and I were enjoying life while living in a very nice
brindependent living facility, Parkview, in Frisco. She passed away in August, and I soon realized the truth of God’s words as He looked at Adam: “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2: 18). You will remember that He then put poor Adam to sleep, took one of his ribs and created a woman, Eve, “to be man’s helper.” I could no longer live alone and was facing the need to move to an assisted living facility. The fact that we have such nice facilities available today is one of the changes I have seen.</p
p>But back to my personal “elderly” experience: I was so very fortunate to have five loving children, and one of them, my youngest daughter and her husband, invited me to live with them. Thank goodness they have a large home equipped perfectly for my needs, so I heartily accepted their invitation. The move has been quite an adjustment – moving to a different city and leaving my Frisco friends – but “my kids” are now looking after my every need. Today, I could not ask for a better life.</p
p>The next change on our list is what I will call “our values” – what’s important to us. In the early part of the 1900s, people in America were fortunate, and perhaps satisfied, to have a job, or a farm with a simple home. They usually had to work hard to afford the necessities of life. Yes, that is true of some today, but thankfully the majority now want (and have) more than the bare necessities. We have higher wages – much more than the dollar a day I worked for on a farm in the 1930s. We desire (and have) larger, more luxurious, homes, nice cars, fine schools, churches, nice clothes and cities with paved streets – not the muddy streets of old. And the list goes on. There’s no comparison of what we want (and have) today versus the yesteryears. Our values have certainly changed. </p
p>Next, what I think is one of the biggest changes, are our morals – what we consider “naughty.” For example, from the 1930s to the ‘60s, there was the Hays Code that set many of the standards for the movies. One of the rules was that no man and woman – even husband and wife – could be shown in bed together. You old timers may remember that the rule carried over to early-day television. On the show I Love Lucy, Ricky and Lucy, man and wife, were not allowed to be shown in bed together. But today, anything goes.</p
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