Back in 1972

My husband recently turned 39. I know! And yes, he is older than me. I won't gush about him as I usually do on my kids' birthdays since I did just gush about him on our anniversary back in March. If you missed it or were just so in love with what I wrote and want to experience it again, you can find that post here; http://http//fishoutofwaterfamily.blogspot.com/2011/04/ode-to-last-10-years.html

His birthday did prompt a conversation with our girls about what life was like 39 years ago. It's amazing what we didn't have back then and really brings to life the saying, you can't miss what you never had. Now, I can't imagine being without a cell phone or computer. I feel naked if I accidentally leave home without my cell, like I am just "tempting fate" for something to go awry where I would really need my phone. Back in 1972, I'm sure it never even crossed your average Joe's mind that he, one day, he could detach his phone from the wall and take it with him wherever he went. Oh how that would have been helpful to have on the 3 occasions I can remember as a kid having car trouble or running out of gas. Who woulda thought!

No one had a home computer much less a laptop or a computer on your phone.
No one had cell phones.
There were no microwaves
Not everyone had AC in their car
Not everyone had AC in their home
There were no cordless phones
There were no digital cameras.
Video cameras were huge.
Color television was just beginning to become standard
Most people did not have more than 1 TV in their home
Most people only had 1 car per family
Homes did not have automatic garage doors.
There was no Starbucks
There were no SUVs or minivans
Everyone had and used a phonebook
There were no CDs, DVDs or Ipods
People used albums still or cassette tapes
There was no Skype or video phone.
No one had to wear seat belts
Kids did not have to ride in car seats
There was no remote control for your TV
No one had video games.
Flat screens were only at the movie theater.
To watch a movie in your car, you had to go to a drive in theater.
No one had a VCR or even knew what a DVR was
You had to wait years for a movie to come out on video, if ever
There was no spell check!
Most homes had a dictionary on a book shelf.
To research something, you had to go to the library and look at...books!
There was no hand sanitizer!
I won't even go in to all of the advances that have been made in medicine over the last 39 years.

If I sat here long enough, I'm sure I could go on and on. Who knows what life will be like in 39 more years (2050 for the math challenged). Heck, who knows what it'll be like in 10 more years, when I turn 39. :)

I do know one thing; I am very thankful for all of the events in my husband's 39 years on this earth that lead him to me. And to think, he found me without even having GPS. Happy late Birthday, honey! I love you!