Old Things

An ox shoe.

A Civil War sword.

A penny minted in 1848.

A World War I artillery shell.

A 10,000-year-old spear point.

A shotgun used to repel looters after the 1901 fire.

Last night, at a MED Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting, I gave a talk on the history of Jacksonville. I let the small group handle a bunch of rusty old artifacts which I’ve accumulated over they years. Some of the stuff came down to me from my parents through both branches of the family; other artifacts I’ve dug up in my studies of Jacksonville history over the years.

I enjoyed giving my talk and the small audience laughed in all the right places.

Speaking of old things, this month I turn 69 years old.

This month also Ginny has a birthday; she’s 60 years old—Plus shipping and handling.

And this month both our son Donald and his wife Helen also celebrate birthdays; so we’ll have a collective birthday party for all concerned next weekend.

I think we’re all getting older, enjoying life now, looking forward to more of it, satisfied to die—like kids at the airport playing games, running around, having fun, playing tag, having a blast while waiting for their flight to leave.

Whenever I give my history lecture, I always close with the story of Mrs. A.B. Anthony who lived in Jacksonville during the 1888 yellow fever epidemic which killed one out of every ten residents.

I do not know the name of the richest man in Jacksonville in 1888.

I can’t remember the name of the mayor.

I can’t remember the name of the governor.

I’d be hard put to name the president of the country in 1888.

But I remember Mrs. Anthony.

She owned a cow. During the epidemic, while people died all around her and the city threw bodies into mass grave pits, every morning she’d go out and milk her cow. She take the bucket of milk and a tin dipper and go from house to house giving sick people a drink of milk.

While wars abound and politicians politic and actors act, it is little act6s of kindness that really count in the long run.

While hatred may make headlines, love makes history.

As the Apostle John said in his old age, “Little children, love one another; for love is of God”.