Time

About a week ago was my father's birthday. In August will be my mother's birthday. Knowing my age one can deduce that neither is alive now. If they were it would be a miracle. My father was born 125 years ago, in 1899. My mother 120 years ago, in 1904.

My father was born not even in the 1900s but in the end of the 1800s. My grandparents were born sometime in the 1860s and I knew them also. Well, I am old, so it is not a miracle that I knew them. But what is interesting is that knowing my parents and grandparents those long gone years do not seem such a long time ago.

I know that the world changed a lot since those times. We had two world wars and an armed revolution to mention something. Technology changed or rather improved a lot. Here is an example. When my mother was born, in 1904 there were no airplanes to speak of. Air travel was unheard of. As time went by the airplane was invented and air travel became a popular way of moving around.

My mother never ever flew but had no reservations about flying. So, in 1962 she came out to New York to visit me, and she flew. The first time in her life she flew on a transatlantic, long flight to New York. She loved it. And after that she flew a few more times. My father never came to the US, but he also flew. 

Budapest where my family is from is an old and developed city. The building where my father was born and grew up still stands. I think when he was born it was already an old building. These old apartment houses are withstanding time and still give homes to many people. Budapest did not change much from those early days. Every time I visited, I never had any problems finding my ways around. Same old streets, same old buildings. It even held up against WWII.  In some older building shrapnel marks from WWII are still visible. 

The only reason I mention this to show how much our world changed or not since we are in it. Not everything is for the better but most of it is.