My father was born in 1902 in Hamburg. In his life he witnessed the sinking of the Titanic, the beginning of flight,(planes and blimps); the beginning of the auto industry. He was drafted as a drummer boy for the Kaiser’s Army in WWI. He jumped ship and waded through the Louisiana swamps, and became a U. S. citizen in 1926. He survived the Great Depression, and WW II. He was part of the post-war prosperity boom, went through the gut – wrenching 60’s assassinations, the burgeoning civil rights movement, the Watts riots, the moon landing, the women’s movement, Viet Nam, Richard Nixon, and Watergate, and recessions.
Towards the end of his life,I asked him of all the change and inventions, what had the greatest impact in his life? His answer? Communications – to be able to pick up a phone and call Germany instead of waiting weeks for a letter, ( first by ship, then by plane). What would he have made of Skype, twitter, email, Instagram? I think he would have been an early adopter.