EIGHTY GREAT YEARS

Sunday was my eightieth birthday. I have seen and experienced a lot in these eighty years. Some of it has been good and of course some has been bad. I think of all the great discoveries and accomplishments that have happened in these last eighty years. I think of how the world has changed. 

 

When I was a young child, we lived very near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. That was the place where our country was developing the atomic bomb. We all knew that our enemies would try to destroy our facilities there. That was quite frightening to a young child. Of course the "red menace" kept their distance and we did indeed come up with a great weapon which all but guaranteed total annihilation if we ever had to use it. Well, we did use it and brought Japan to her knees thereby saving thousands of lives, both Allies and Japanese. 

 

I remember polio. We weren't allowed to wade in wading pools because we might get polio. Polio was a dreadful disease and then along comes Jonas Salk with a vaccine and polio is all but eliminated. Many, many killer diseases have been neutered over these past years. Leukemia scared me as much as any disease. Especially when I was blessed to have children. Danny Thomas built St. Judes and while the disease has not been cured, it is no longer an automatic death sentence. How fortunate we are to live in this time. 

 

Politics has changed a lot also. In my earlier time, politicians were cordial and respectful to each other and to their constituents. I remember Republican President Ronald Reagan and his relationship with Democrat Tip O'Neill. They spent hours together over adult beverages working out the issues facing the country. Wow, has that ever changed. Both sides of the aisle seem hell bent on the destruction of the other side. The "loyal opposition" has disappeared. 

 

Today our President is treated with such disrespect that we should all be embarrassed. Open sedition and treason seem to be okay. Ever since Trump was elected, an all-out effort has been put forth to get rid of him. Lying and conjuring up phony dossiers were used. Creating tales about Russian involvement were widely distributed. It all fell apart when the truth finally came out. Trump has survived and is probably more popular now than ever. 

 

High government officials have committed Federal crimes, lied to courts, spied illegally, and done everything they can to change the outcome of a legitimate election. It all disgusts me. It is my fervent hope that these guilty officials are brought to justice, and soon.

 

On the positive side, medicine has greatly improved. In the year of my birth, 1940, eighty-year-old people were quite rare. Now they are among the fastest growing population in America and in the world. Personally, I have an artificial shoulder and knee. My ankle is held together with screws and metal bands. I wear eyeglasses, have hearing aids, some false teeth, and sleep with a CPAP machine because of sleep apnea. Eighty years ago they probably would have just put me down. I believe today that I have many more years of life left in me thanks in large measure to modern medicine.

 

Intellectually I know that most of my life is behind me, and I have loved all of it. It has been a great life. I don't know what is ahead of me, but I plan to live and enjoy all that is left. 

 

I worry about my country and the growth of socialism, though. Young people today have no idea how destructive such a form of government is. This country may well have to find out the hard way. I hope not. 

 

I wish you well and pray for the best.

 

Ron Scarbro October 20, 2020