[HN Gopher] Heirloom
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Heirloom
Author : mooreds
Score : 48 points
Date : 2021-07-12 14:46 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (silashouseblog.blogspot.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (silashouseblog.blogspot.com)
| gfaure wrote:
| I take a little pleasure in the idea that our kids might discover
| some program I wrote when I was younger, and in doing so, maybe
| better understand the mind that made it.
| noindiecred wrote:
| Silas House is a true American treasure. I'm so glad that this
| made it to the Hacker News home page.
| bargle0 wrote:
| FTA:
|
| > She's gone now, too, like all of the real elders in my family.
|
| If we're lucky, someday we'll become the real elders of our
| families.
| mooreds wrote:
| There are two senses of 'elder' worth unpacking.
|
| 1. The oldest remaining members of a family. In this case, all
| you have to do is survive. I have friends who are already in
| this place, having seen their parents, aunts, uncles and others
| pass on.
|
| 2. Provide family memory and wisdom to those who want it. Some
| of this you can do by recounting your experiences, but a lot is
| by learning about the more distant past, distilling it, and
| sharing that. For example, I haven't seen any stats on this,
| but most folks I know who are really into genealogy started
| later in life. This takes more effort and I imagine that this
| kind of 'elder' status isn't something everyone attains.
| throwaway894345 wrote:
| It's really amazing that his family has so many things that have
| stood the test of time. I've been thinking about how many things
| in my life are expressly designed to be cheap and disposable.
| Notably, how bad that is for the environment, how it empowers
| oppressive regimes to whom we outsource our pollution and pseudo-
| slave labor, etc. I try to find more things that are simple,
| robust, and which fill me with joy such that I'll hang onto them
| for a long time.
| g5095 wrote:
| My grandfather is 92. I have a small number of relatives I fully
| expect will want more than their share, the things that may fetch
| some coin. I hear the more brazen ones 'Grandad, when you're
| gone, Grandma can't drive, what do you plan on doing with the
| car?'
|
| I would dearly like to ask him for his harmonica. I remember
| sitting on his lap while he'd play Larry Adler tunes (he doesn't
| have the breath for it anymore). I don't think anyone else will
| care for it, something to go in a box to the thrift store I'm
| sure, but watching the looters plan their moments I can hardly
| bring myself to say anything, and so I'll just sit and make him
| another cup of tea.
|
| Thanks for your story OP.
| Bayart wrote:
| Just ask him. He'd probably be happier giving something to
| someone who wants it _himself_. My great aunt who 's 93 won't
| stop giving me anything I show the slightest amount of interest
| in.
| thaumasiotes wrote:
| I agree. He'd probably be delighted just to hear
|
| >> I remember sitting on his lap while he'd play Larry Adler
| tunes
| hobs wrote:
| If he doesnt play it anymore then its the right time to ask him
| for it - when people die the little things will indeed get
| lost, my grandfather promised the pistol he accidentally shot
| himself with to like ?6? people? (framed, with the newspaper
| article, the man was a fanatic about safety haha.)
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(page generated 2021-07-12 23:01 UTC)