Yesterday and Today - written for a paper just before the Murrah building was bomber - the last few sentences just after

[Guest guest]

Yesterday and TodayOklahoma is an enigma. Although it is modern and up-to-date, there are still pockets of a softer, gentler time. Some neighborhoods are modern and contemporary, and in an out-of-the-way corner is a turn-of-the-century home. Oklahoma has been a state for over a hundred years. It has seen covered wagons and men walking in space and on the Moon. It has come from a frontier existence of me and mine to an urban environment with all the associated problems of a modern society.But I can remember seeing my grandmother standing beside the old iron pot, stirring clothes on wash day or making lye soap beside the old well. Today, I cheat to save time and use a modern washer and dryer to clean my clothes, and I buy my soap at a store.I remember standing on the old flour drum beside Grandma's old wood stove as she made biscuits and pan gravy and fried sausages and eggs from the farm in the big iron skillet. I can also remember her smiling at me and pinching off a piece of biscuit dough and popping it into my upturned mouth. Today I have supermarkets to buy my food in and microwave ovens, food processors, and the other modern contraptions to make my life easier. It might be easier and more convenient, but is it the same or better?I remember Grandma putting pieces of material together to make " memory " quilts from scraps of my Dad's and my aunts' and uncles' clothes and overalls. She would sit beside the big potbelly stove on a winter's evening in her rocker. She would rock and stitch the strips of cloth into a warm quilt, each stitch made with love. Somehow those old quilts still feel of her love and hard work to keep us warm and safe from the cold. Today I run down to the Mall or Dollar Tree or K-Mart to pick out what I want and pay for it with plastic money.I remember the chamber pots under the beds at night. I can still use a " full " pot and not overflow it. I remember chasing the chickens out of the way to get to the outhouse. Well, the rooster usually got the upper hand but I always made it. Today I have an indoor porcelain temple to perform my ablutions and to pamper my every need and desire.I remember cutting vegetables and flowers in Grandma's garden. I remember stealing cherry tomatoes out of the open kitchen window. I remember itching all over from cutting okra and breaking out in a rash from eating the cherry tomatoes. I remember being stung by a hornet when I tried to steal a peach that was hanging over the back fence. I remember the earthy, sweet smell of the canned fruits and vegetables Grandma stored in the root cellar for the winter and the taste of preserved peaches in cobblers and jams and jellies on hot biscuits for breakfast. I remember summer suppers of cows’ milk and cold biscuits crumbled into a big, white bowl with fresh fruit on the side. Today I go down to Buy-For-Less, or the local farmer's market and buy my food.I can remember summers with open windows and open doors and fans that barely moved the air. I remember open windows and a layer of rich, red dirt all over everything. I remember it being so hot outside that I felt cold. I remember when we got out first swamp cooler. I remember having to hose down the fibrous straw filters and then being " spit " on for a couple of hours of blessed coolness. I remember Grandma's big pot belly stove, red-hot and warm in the winter. I remember frosted panes of single glass and my cousins and I getting our tongues glued to panes of glass. I remember the log-fired kitchen stove and the pleasant smells from the cooking pots and smelling fresh bread and cobblers in the oven. Today I program the thermostat and forget the weather and the season with central heat and air-conditioning. I drive in my warm or cool car to my thermostatically heated and cooled office.I can remember my grandfather playing his " squeeze-box " in the evening and singing songs from the Great War. I remember nights of " Old-Maid " and " Snap " and other card games. I remember shows on the radio like “Amos and Andy” and the “Grand Ole Opry.” I remember our first TV in the summer of 1954. I remember programs like “I Love Lucy “and “The Mickey Mouse Club.” Today I have a computer, cable TV, a CD player, a DVD, a fax machine, and a modem. It seems as if the family togetherness that I knew has been replaced by solitary pursuits, and many people lack the ability to hear and interact with other people or family members. Today I play computer solitaire, design my dream house, plot out needlework, read eBooks’, or plan my out-of-town trips on my computers. I have a 125 -channel cable hook up to watch almost anything that I would desire. I watch TV or play a DVD tape. I listen to old records, cassette tapes, DVD’s, or CD's at the touch of a button.Today's faster-paced society has compelled some people to become slaves to machines. Some people have lost a hands-on personal sense of accomplishment in favor of convenience and time. Family togetherness and self-accomplishment are out of favor. Individual space and speed have taken precedence over personal and family interaction. The fallout is felt in the increased societal violence and a self-serving " ME-centered " society. The future of our society looks bleak. One just has to watch the evening news to see these things. The future is still to be decided. It is influenced by our collected PASTS, while it seems to be becoming just a collection of memories of a long ago time that we have trouble communicating to our children. Not long ago our present was shattered into reality with the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. But good came out of the Heartland and out of every part of our nation, for a small stretch of time we were one family. We pulled together to right a terrible, sick act of violence. Can we hold these feelings of family and continue to work together to bring wholeness to our lives and our country? The nation learned what we Okies have always know -- we are all one family and we have to pull together to survive. The time has come to carry forward the pledges we made to ourselves and our nation during the last weeks. It is time for our leaders to stop being political and taking sides and to work together. Will they heed our cries of need to come together and keep us strong and united or will they continue to pull apart and keep us weak and apart?