On May 31, 2008, my mother Louise Tacker passed away at the age of 89. She was a member of the Greatest Generation that met the challenges of the Great Depression and World War II. I have been going through several of her personal belongings and paper work and found something that made me think that the Greatest Generation was also the Thriftiest Generation. There were two Metropolitan Life Insurance policies on mother that she and my dad bought. One was purchased in 1962. The other one was dated December 1, 1942. The second one grabbed my attention, as it was dated just 5 days before Pearl Harbor! I can just picture Mom, Dad, and the insurance salesman sitting around their kitchen table in Carthage, MO, filling out and signing the application. Little did they know at the time that the Japanese had finalized and implemented their plans for their attack on America that would forever change not only my parents lives, but also the course of our nation. My parents tenaciously hung on to these policies because they knew that life has many pitfalls. During the depression my mother lost her father, making my grandmohter a widow with 8 children to raise. My dad also lost his father at a young age.During my mother's retirement two of her favorite pasttimes were shopping at Wal Mart and making Raggedey and Anne and Andy dolls. Two of them sit amoung the packages under our Christmas tree every year.
There are alot of lessons that the new generations can take away from the Greatest and Thriftiest Generation. But the most important one is to make everyday count, we don't know what is around the bend and how our lives can drastically change.
I miss my mom and I am glad that the struggles of this life are over for her. I am looking forward to being with her again.
