My Private Whispers and Light Blog

Remembering back to 1960.

March 11, 2026


Last week I wrote a review for a chapter set in the future, the year 2087. Reading it made me think about how much our world has already changed, and how quickly those changes seem to come now. But more than anything, it made me think about memories and how different life once felt.

I was born in 1956, though I do not have many clear memories until around 1960. The earliest one I can clearly recall is standing in the doorway of my grandparents’ house. My mother’s sister had just been married, and I remember watching her run beside her new husband as people threw things at them. From my small child’s point of view, it looked like they were being attacked.

I did not understand it at all.

A woman standing in the doorway with me must have seen the worry on my face, because she leaned down and explained, “Don’t worry. It’s rice for good luck.”

After that moment, every time I played make believe and imagined my fairytale wedding, I always pictured rice being thrown. It seemed like the most magical ending to a beautiful day. Even now it remains such a sweet memory.

Thinking about that time also reminds me how different everyday life once was. From those early years all the way to 2026, the changes have been enormous, and lately it feels as if things change faster every year.

My childhood memories certainly do not include computers. I remember getting my first electric typewriter as a teenager, and at the time it seemed unbelievably modern. It felt like the future had arrived right on my desk.

The same is true for television. I remember being the first kid on our block whose family had a color TV. We only had three channels to choose from, but that did not matter to us. That Thanksgiving my parents let me invite several friends over to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We took over the basement with snacks and music, and somehow managed to turn the whole afternoon into a party.

When I look back now, it is amazing to think about the difference between then and now.

Yes, there has been a lot of change. But not all change is bad. I admit that I enjoy having more than a hundred channels on my television. I like having a computer and a cell phone. Many of the modern conveniences we take for granted today would have seemed like science fiction when I was a child.

Now a cheerful voice from one of the Alexas in my house gives me updates, reminds me of appointments, and helps me make lists just by speaking out loud. And honestly, who needs an electric typewriter anymore when I can simply dictate and the computer types every word for me?

Life certainly has changed.

But sometimes it is the small memories, like rice falling in the sunlight outside my grandparents’ door, that remind me where the story really began.

Kind wishes,
Tee