Area resident reflects on life since 1906

When asked what life was like in the early years, which for me started 98 years ago in 1906, it is difficult to know where to begin. I have both seen and experienced much in the way of change.

Starting on the lighter side, how would you like to buy a large chocolate ice cream soda at a fountain for 10 cents, or a heaping ice cream cone for 5 cents? Those days no longer exist.

Halloween has made a noticeable change in its observance. Great fun was had in dressing like a ghost with a sheet over the head and marking on store windows with a bar of laundry soap. Sometimes a porch chair or bench would be found in a tree. But that was the spirit of Halloween. It was simple and there were no evil intentions.

Life does keep moving though, and today Halloween is quite differently observed. Frustrations mar the calm of past observances. Trick or treating has been added that sometimes ends with foreign objects placed inside the candy. Such behavior was not a part of Halloween in former years.

Decided progress has been made in the medical field. What a blessing to mankind. Various kidney ailments have been treated and cured, with some even being wiped out.

Birth has taken a giant step. The C-section that is commonly used and often preferred was not heard of in early years. Babies were born in the home, often with a midwife's assistance. My twin sister and I were born in the same home we lived in for 85 years. We were delivered by Dr. W.C. Patton, then known as the finest doctor in town.

The progress we see today is blurred by the unrest and unhappiness seen around us daily. The crime that continues to build and the fashions with partial nudity were by no means a part of the early days.

With the absence of this, the past is often referred to as the good old days. How thankful I am to have been a part of those days.

Paula Kempe is a resident of the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau and frequent contributor of letters to the editor.