We are remarkable beings

My daughter Jenny posted a brief article about her daughters' weekend morning routine. Accompanying the article are pictures. In one, Marissa the youngest is sitting at an old school desk enjoying her morning breakfast of cereal while watching cartoons. In the other, Lindsey, the oldest, is playing on a computer with a game designed for children that is loosely modeled on Worlds of War.

I believe the desk is from their Grandma Dolaskie's elementary school in VanMeer, MI. I do not exactly remember, Jenny's mother and I may have purchased those desks years ago when the school was being dismantled. Or, her Grandmother may have purchased them for the grandchildren. I do not recall. I also believe there were two purchased, one for my oldest daughter Kristi and one for Jenny. Regardless the desk in question is still put to good use and perhaps one day will be Marissa's and perhaps one of her children will sit at that desk eating cereal and enjoying what ever will be the entertainment of the day.

As for the memories. I remember Jenny sitting at that desk, not just for Saturday morning cartoons, but playing school, drawing, or just doodling. It was not a central piece of her life, but it was used and enjoyed. That is what should be done with antiques. Using them provides us with a link or a path to our history and roots. We do not know if that desk was one sat at by her Grandma some eighty years ago, but it was from a small country school in a small village in a remote part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Today it resides in the large city of Minneapolis, yet it speaks of a time when things were tough and days were spent learning our ABC's at small desks in small schools taught by teachers willing to devote the time to learning. These are our roots, there were no government programs to support us, there was no TV to entertain us, there were no good roads to take us places, in many cases there was no electricity or phone service. I did not grow up in that era, but my mother and dad did.

I think it is those links that help ground us and keep things in perspective. We are not owed a good life, we have the earn it by learning, by working, and by being diligent in our efforts to take care of ourselves. To take the easy way is to go down the direction we now find ourselves. Mired in a shrinking economy, to much focus on materials goods, and consumption of resources life may be changing in a way we never wanted for our children. They may grow up having less than their parents. Perhaps if everyone sat at a small desk from a remote region of the country watching Saturday morning caroons we wouldn't get so carried away with bling.