I’ve written about my mother in law before but after a recent visit, I had to write again.

She is ninety-six and clear as a bell. So, count backwards with me. She was born in 1922. Think about the history that she lived through and remembers in glorious detail.

During our time together last week, she was in a story telling mood. That’s my favorite time, usually because her stories always include some “little Billy” follies.

During this visit though, her stories were more historical. We heard what it was like to be in high school as World War II was getting started, going to sleep at night with nightmares that Nazis were in her bedroom, listening to her classmate unsuccessfully try to woo others to be Nazi supporters, and much more. She is an avid reader and acknowledges that she learned much more about the time she was living through from the books that came later. Those readings though were personal to her unlike the way we read history books.

The moral of my blog today is to take some time and talk to the generation that came before. Reading a history book cannot compare to hearing real life, first hand experiences. And the second moral of my blog today — my mother-in-law is pretty awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving!