It’s a simple enough question and one that is likely asked millions of times each day in an variety of nuances and a thousand different languages.
An old friend, reaching out on Facebook writes these few words… these few, simple words… “What’s new?”, and it sends my thoughts reeling.
Oh my… what is new? You see, we haven’t seen each other or spoken in over twenty-five years.
Suddenly, I’m having a moment like I suppose my grandparents would have had as they answered a similar question in 1920. As they spoke of achieving lasting peace in the “War To End All Wars”…
…As they related stories of these crazy guys with names like Marconi and Edison and Tesla who were playing with sound waves and vacuum tubes, power generation and refrigeration…
…Or maybe as they took us outside to show off the shiny new black “automobile” in their driveway, the one that matched all the shiny new black automobiles in all of their neighbors driveways.
Twenty-five years… indeed, what is new?
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I’m thinking everything…
Family and friends that moved away. Family and friends that passed away. Husband. Father. Mentor. Saved by grace.
The Fall of the Soviet Empire. The Rise of China. “Made in Japan” now means quality! President’s Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43 and Obama. Cold War ended. Gulf War One started and ended. September 11. Iraq. Afghanistan. Friends Overseas. Friend’s children overseas.
New puppy, now elderly dog. The Euro. Bought my first computer. Bought my first computer with a HARD DRIVE. Started a business. Grew the business. Diversified the business. Sold the business. Traveled lots. Started another business.
No More “Pager”. No more Faxes. Tons of Email. Texting. Flip phones. Video phones. Smart phones. Free phones. Internet Radio Networks. Robotics in industry and medicine. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Nano-technology. AIDS in America effectively a silent issue and cosmetic “enhancements” go mainstream.
What else is new?
Blogs. Social networks. Expanding Power of Social and New Media. Decline and Fall of Traditional and Old Media. Mega-bytes. Mega-Churches. Mega-Cokes and Fries. Three ounce travel size everything. No more travel-agents.
The iPod and iPad. Cars you can’t work on. Mobile computing. Pilot’s License. Boards and Committees. Teacher. Coach. Author. Drummer. Less Vices. More Influence. Packers WON Super Bowl. Packers LOST Super Bowl.
I’m thirty pounds lighter. Eighteen gray hairs richer. No longer get carded… too often.
Sounds like everything is new, or is it possible that the answer is really… nothing?
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