Grandpa W.B. Taylor

After spending some time with my Grandpa in Santa Ana last week, I started thinking about perspectives. While chatting, I wondered how he interpreted the events playing out in the news recently and asked him about the state of our current financial market. Was it really the doomsday event all the pundits said it was?

Now given my age, I think of events which occurred since the 70’s, like the Oil Embargo (aka 1st Energy Crisis), the end of the Cold War/Berlin Wall dismantling, the Iraq wars and the Internet Revolution. Most things I observe today are automatically compared to those big events and categorized accordingly. However, when you expand the timeline to include my Grandpa's perspective, which began in the early 1900’s, my frame of reference seems like more of a footnote than the novel residing in my Grandpa's mind.

For those who don’t know, Grandpa Will grew up in Nebraska and moved to Southern California in 1924 as a teenager. During his formative years he witnessed events like World War I, the Great Depression & Prohibition. It’s a unique experience to talk with someone who has been observing the world around him since the first Model T Ford hit an assembly line. His 102nd birthday is coming up in February.

So he thought about my question for a few seconds and replied, “Some of my stocks are doing well, some not so well.” Now that’s perspective.

On a lighter note, we all enjoyed the sunny weather and the boys had an awesome time exploring the property around Grandpa’s place, picking avocados, oranges and macadamia nuts off the trees. We even chased some lizards around & Charlie almost caught one. We also really appreciated the help of Sandra, who takes care of Grandpa and makes it possible for him to continue living in the same home he’s lived in for the last 50 years. We’re already looking forward to the next visit.

-jt