Since we are at the beginning of a new year I’ll mention some changes I’ve observed over the past century.

One obvious change is the economy. Even today’s poorest person would have been considered wealthy the first 60 years of the past century. On a country talk show I could relate to celebrities Loretta Lynn and Jeannie Pruitt talking about using outdoor privies and coming from a home devoid of luxuries.

When I was growing up, everyone I knew was poor. My family grew our own food so we never went hungry. We had only outdoor plumbing, but there was always water to wash clothes and take baths. Today the impoverished seem to want all the luxuries of the rich - cars, TVs, eating out, new clothes and furniture. When I was moneyless, if I couldn’t afford something, I didn’t get it. The word "debt" wasn’t in my vocabulary.

Another noticeable change is morality. About the worst we did as teens was drink or smoke, with sometimes a girl "having toget married." There was little peer pressure. Arkansas seemed so remote, almost as if we were protected from the rest of the world. It took about ten years for a craze that began in California to reach Arkansas - drugs, hippie movement, gay lifestyle, hair fads. As we read news stories about murders, suicides, arson, bank holdups, robberies, child abuse, prejudices, batteries, embezzling, rape - it amazes me how little has really changed. Evil has always been a part of mankind. Our hearts haven’t changed. We just have more people, and crime seems more violent.

One area I rejoice in is the move toward strong families. Men loving their families sacrificially. More parents raising strong moral children with Christian values of integrity, trustworthiness, respectfulness. Unfortunately, there’s more divorce, more breakup of homes.

In our modern world, creativity is applauded, as skills and talents and abilities are exposed and used in the workplace, in our towns and churches. Probably the greatest marvels of the past 100 years are advances in healthcare - organ transplants, laser and microscopic surgery, polio vaccine. Then there’s space travel, big government, Social Security, cappuccino, Jacuzzi, floss, automatic transmissions, entertainment industry, wireless, TV, radio, computerized toys. CDs and other electronic devices have replaced eight tracks, cassettes and 78 RPM records. How about the gadgets we can’t live without, like microwaves, dishwashers, computers, fax machines, cell phones, digital cameras, ATMs, credit cards, Internet shopping, and the list goes on!

I can still remember when we were called Arkansawyers instead of Arkansans (I prefer the former); when Miss and Mrs. became Ms. (I still detest that title, yet am forced to use it); when we knew almost everyone in town and especially our neighbors.

There were few self-help books when I was raising my children. Around the ‘70s books began to abound on such subjects as child rearing, parenting, marriage and mental and emotional health that greatly affected my life.

In our ever changing word, the only constant is God.

Marie Putman is a former Gravette resident and regular contributor to the Westside Eagle Observer.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/18/2012