When asked to write a biography about Grandma, I immediately went into research mode and did what most people nowadays would do: I googled her birthday. Then it hit me, Grandma was 92 years old…92! Imagine all that she lived through…and without the Internet! How did she survive?! The amount of historical events that she lived through it amazing…way too long to list here. And this probably won’t even make the back of the memorial program because it’s too damn long. But I thought I’d share some of my favorites with my other family: the facebook family:
Some things that happened on November 3rd through the years:
Saturday, November 3, 1917—Doris Thompson born;
First Class mail stamps increase…to 3 cents (1917) ; Chicago Tribune reports: “Dewey beats Truman” (1948) ; USSR launches Sputnik 2 with first dog in orbit (1957) ; Good Morning America premieres on ABC (1973); Lou Piniella is named manager of the Reds, replacing banned Pete Rose (1989)
Some things that were invented between 1917 and 2009 :
Xerox machine ; First computer ; Polaroid Camera; Color TV; First space shuttle flight; Hearing aid; Atomic Bomb; Compact disc; VHS; Apple personal computer
Dolly the cloned sheep; Sticky tape; Ballpoint pen; Microwave; Velcro; DVD
Wars lived through: 6+
(end of WWI; WWII ; Korean ; Vietnam ; Desert Storm ; Iraqi Freedom)
Presidents elected since 1917: 17
(Wilson ; Harding ; Coolidge ; Hoover ; FDR ; Truman ; Eisenhower ; JFK ; Johnson ; Nixon ; Ford ; Carter ; Reagan ; Bush ; Clinton ; Bush ; Obama)
Although I couldn’t find anyone “famous” with her same birthday (apparently, that Nov. 3, 1917 was reserved for her alone), I did uncover other people who had the same birthdate…or rather, who shared her birthdate: Kate Capshaw – Steven Spielberg’s ex-wife; Roseanne Barr – the TV star; Dennis Miller – comedian-extraordinaire; and my favorite, Godzilla – the Japanese monster. Apparently, he was “born” on Nov. 3, 1954, and Doris would have been 37 and way too busy with her three kids and budding music career to care about some Japanese monster.
And let’s not forget The Great Depression, the Cold War, the Women’s Movement, civil rights, fallout shelters, Pearl Harbor, the moon landing, Kennedy assassination, 9/11…the impressive list goes on and on and on.
I didn’t want this to be so much about her past, but about how much life and history she lived through…how much has changed over the years, and how much hasn’t changed at all. The life she lived was full of laughter and tears, hardship and triumph, strong will and determination. It was filled with family, it was filled with laughter and tears and it was most certainly filled with the gift of song. Her fingers constantly grazed the ivories of her beloved piano, which has since been passed down to the resident musician in the family, Jenny Weaver Barbieri. It was a life filled with, well, life. And as she is no doubt directing the Heavenly Choir of Knox, PA for their annual Christmas concert, I can’t help but smile at the legacy she taught us all: the power of music will lead us home.
When griping grief the heart doth wound,
and doleful dumps the mind oppresses,
then music, with her silver sound,
with speedy help doth lend redress.
–William Shakespeare
