Today's seniors lived through many changes

While walking in my neighborhood this week, I exchanged a few words with a seven-yearold riding his bike. I said, "Hi," and he said, in the forthright manner of the very young, "You're a good walker, even if you don't ride your bike any more. My mom says, how old ARE you?"

I thought about that a minute or so, and then I said, "Well, I'm so old that I can remember when the milkman and bread delivery man came to our door in a horse and wagon." He laughed and said, "Oh, you're just making that up!"

No, I have to confess, I DO remember the clop-clop of the horses' hooves as they leisurely traversed the street, and the sound of the glass bottles clinking together in the milk wagon. And that started me thinking about so many other things that have changed.

It wasn't until the beginning of World War II that we had our first dishwasher, a top-loader, called a Lake State. I remember having to get a government permit at the time, since they were in limited supply and were being used first for military facilities, but my husband and I thought that with the two infants at home this would be important for keeping baby bottles sterile.

We eventually got a washer and dryer in our next home. They were installed in what was then called a "butler's pantry." The house was an old threestory stone house with a slate roof. We also had one of the very first televisions, which I may have mentioned before, with a massive nine-inch screen!

My kids remember seeing a really old washing machine, the kind with a wringer over the top, but I can't remember if that was mine or my mother's.

You see, it isn't always the glamorous things you remember. A lot of things happened in the years we seniors have passed through. Maybe not all were good, but we've lived in interesting times.

*****

An alarming statistic in the news from the World Health Organization lately is the increasing number of deaths linked to smoking. That number totals over a million deaths per year in the industrialized nations. With 800,000 deaths among people 16 to 64 included in that million, it exceeds the combined total of all death from violence, including homicide, accident and suicide.

I have noticed that most groups of seniors of my acquaintance do not contain many smokers. Let's try to help the next generation realize that smoking is a dangerous and expensive habit.

*****

There are so many interesting events coming up this month, it almost makes me forget about Tax Day. The "Art in Bloom" fundraiser for the Pensacola Museum of Art is one of them. Today, from 6 to 7 p.m., there will be a preview reception for Nico De Swert, an internationally known floral designer. But the rubber meets the road on Friday and Saturday, when you can attend a flower market and lectures at the Pensacola Little Theatre, to demonstrate the art of floral design. And, on Sunday, the flower market, and the Museum, will also be open. Contact the Museum at 850- 432-6247 for details about these events.

*****

Did you know? When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate, and they do the same when you are looking at someone you hate. I bet mine dilate even wider when I look at those magnificent floral arrangements. See you next week!