by Jamie Belnap

STAFF WRITER

According to an old song I used to hear on the radio, the "good old days" were when my grandparents or great-grandparents were growing up -- when marriages lasted and promises were something people kept, or so the song goes.

I remember singing that song with a friend to anyone who was listening on the CB radio in the cab of my grandpa's red Ford pickup. Grandpa drove silently along bumpy canyon roads listening to the words of our song for a time before interrupting as we neared the chorus again.

"You know," he said. "The good days are now."

Growing up during the Depression, Grandpa didn't have much -- which probably constitutes the reason why a closet in a back room of his house is stacked to the brim with five or six brand new, still-in-the-box color television sets, a number of VCRs, a few DVD players and even a vacuum or two. When he gets an ad in the mail advertising a good price he stocks up just to ensure that he or anyone he knows never has to go without.

Grandpa said his family was so poor back during those alleged "good old days" that he couldn't afford to buy socks. Some of the kids teased him at school and constantly inquired as to why he never wore any. To avoid any embarrassment, his response was that he simply didn't like them. He had one pair of jeans to his name, and when they became discolored and stained he bought some dark-colored dye and transformed them into a new pair.

Listening to my 94-year-old grandpa's stories not only helped me understand things previously described in history books -- that I didn't pay much attention to at the time -- but also helped me realize how much I have.

Sometimes I go to the grocery store and cringe when I notice I may have to fork over more for a dozen eggs than I've ever had to before. And I even feel a little heartburn at the pump as I put the nozzle into my empty gas tank and notice that I'm going to shell out nearly $3.30 per gallon. But after reflecting on some of Grandpa's stories, I consider myself lucky to live in something more than a one-room apartment with no air conditioning and a poor heating system, and to be able to pay a minimal co-pay to visit the doctor when I've come down with a bug.

During an innocent game of cowboys and Indians, a pair of pliers knocked Grandpa's brother Charles in the head. While he appeared to be fine directly following the accident, the wound later became infected. A meager monthly income meant a simple doctor's visit was out of the question. Charles died not long after and Grandpa still blames himself.

I bet people living during those times would have very much appreciated the government mailing them a stimulus check to help lift the economy out of the rut it was in. That money could have helped fund necessities. For us, that money will probably fund wants, which is probably the reason why stories of economic downturn are constantly flashing across the screen of the television my grandpa gave me to begin with. Wanting more sometimes impedes our decision making abilities, and we often splurge for something that we could probably do without.

It's human nature to want more than you already have. I don't claim to be any sort of expert on the subject, but I've encountered more than one other person who struggles with the same desires. Being content in our current situation is a hard thing to achieve, but perhaps it's those who came before us who can help us climb that ladder.

Grandpa's memories of times now past are numerous, but the memories of more recent occasions sometimes soon fade from his mind. Perhaps that reflects on the overall impact some of those experiences have on his life today. Maybe he was right, these days aren't so bad.

jamieb@tooeletranscript.com