The best insight to compare how life was in the past to how things are now is not only through a history textbook or a class, but through asking someone.

For some insight comparing life in the 1960’s to life now, I interviewed my grandmother for some information to compare the two times, and to just know more about her life.

She was born on September 7, 1947, or “just recently” as she said. Communities were close when she was growing up: small towns, less busy roads, much less of a population; life was seemingly easier to navigate and to know. Personally, my grandma thought, “It was quieter back then, not wild like it is now, but that happens generation after generation.”

Due to such communities, everyone was close and knew everything about one another, including my grandmother and her seven siblings. Due to having so many siblings and financially supporting them, they shared most things such as a bike. They grew up not extremely poor but fairly well off. A father working a decent job put food on the table. The bathroom was actually an outhouse in their backyard, something that is not commonly seen now. They also had a chicken coop. “They ran around after you chopped their heads off! It was crazy!”

When my grandmother looked back on these times, she didn’t look back on the not so great living conditions.  She looked back with optimism. “We had it rough when we were little, but we had fun!” This generation was not as technologically advanced as we are now, but that didn’t stop my grandmother and her younger sister from having a good time. “Cantina Nights” were a popular venue of hers. Although those were the “Woodstock years,” my grandmother was unable to go. Cantina Nights though, were an acceptable substitution. “It was only 25 cents to get in. We would sing and dance, but we didn’t smoke . . . not yet!”

My grandmother and her siblings had another pastime of collecting bottles for pennies, two pennies for a bottle. With this money, they would then go buy candy which was only 2 cents compared to today's average price of about a dollar fifty. “It tasted much better back then too!”

The most interesting aspect of an interview with a grandparent is her connection with major world events I have only learned about in my life. Knowing people who have lived through these events makes it so much more thought-provoking and interesting. My grandmother grew up in the times of President Kennedy, the most memorable president of her childhood. The day of his assassination, my grandmother was in her 9th or 10th grade classroom. They announced it in her school, aired the newscast that the president had been shot. “It was a shame.”

Not only has history evolved to the modern day, but more personally, my grandmother has too. Compared to her younger days of Cantina Nights, collecting bottles, and having fun, my grandmother now goes to the casinos, bingo, and even works as a cleaner still with her sister. Family was such a close idea back then so my grandmother and her sister were nearly inseparable.

Once my grandmother was little and was riding her bike down the road, which were rather clear due to fewer cars.  She hit a bump in the road, and her sister jumped off but my grandmother launched through the local bar's window. She was alright, but the way her father found out is just an example of how close the community was. Her father went to get a drink at the bar and the owner asked him if his daughter was okay. Her father was confused as she never told him what happened, so he asked the bartender why. The bartender continued to tell him that his daughter launched herself into a window.

One final significant question to ask in comparing the old times to now would be the transformation of technology. When I asked my grandmother how she has handled such a dramatic change, she said, “I’m just doing it. It is weird but it’s for the better.” Technology from globally informing others to the advancement of medicine has been a beneficial improvement in society.

My grandmother's times, in all, were much more country and much less city. Everyone knew each other, compared to the less close community we live in today. Learning about the past is an amazing experience, and grandparents are the best textbook you could ever have.