Does the age of maturity change from generation to generation? Was a fifteen year-old in the 1920's, more mature than a fifteen year-old in the 2020's? I contend that it doesn't and they weren't.
It's a story for another time but my wife's Grandmother, Alice Faye Bean, told this on herself. In 1930, she was a fifteen year old bride and her friend's husband and Grandpa Raymond Bean worked together. After the men would leave for work, the two women would finish their housework and meet together at one of their houses. This friend (also fifteen) and Grandma would get their baby dolls out and play house, while the men were at work!
The thing that made the difference was, in the 1930's there was a sense of duty, of dedication to vows; the character and principles forged into young, immature couples that "We're going to make it, come hell or high water".
On December 17th, 1929, Ether Alma Earls stood up with Horace Elmer Riggs and vowed that "whether rich or poor, in sickness and in health, til death us do part" they were gonna stay hitched. Alma was fifteen, Elmer was sixteen years old and I knew them as Momo and Popo Riggs, my paternal grandparents.
It wasn't easy beginning a life together at the start of the Great Depression. Popo told me of how he worked for 25 cents a day and had to pay 5 cents of that for his noon meal. They moved around and Popo looked for work in our part of the Ozarks until eventually, they became part of the "Dust Bowl Migration" and moved to the Imperial Valley in California.
After things improved somewhat in the Ozarks, they returned and settled in the area of Howell and Oregon county for good.
I have heard both Popo and Momo say, "We were just kids that got married!" They had their share of hard times, good times, sad time and lean times, but all the time; they loved each other and just determined that they would stick together.
I don't mean to imply that this was easy. They were both strong-willed and like children, wanted their own way. Popo had basically been kicked out of his own home at age thirteen by his stepfather (scathingly referred to as "Old Joe House") and had to make his way in life. Momo was a tomboy, very athletic and from what I understand, the star pitcher on the school baseball team.
This one story about Momo and Popo has been told over and over through the years, and it bears repeating on my little blog. As you read this, just ask yourself, were young people more mature back then than they are now-a-days?
Wherever they lived when this story took place, there were cats. And they weren't just any ole cats. They were Momo's cats! So Popo, being the teaser and aggravator that he was, just had to keep deviling the poor things.
This particular time, he kept pulling one cat's tail, making it growl, hiss and scratch. Momo kept telling him to "Leave the cat alone!" More tail pulling... "Elmer, leave the cat ALONE!" Of course Popo paid her no mind until she jumped up and took off after him to make him stop!
I have left out one little detail. When she jumped up to chase him, she grabbed up a Blue Salve Box.
Now I really don't know exactly what the blue salve box looked like, but Momo, in retelling this story said it was the closest thing at hand when she got riled up!
Well, Popo outran Momo and got behind the lean-to attached to the barn. He would have been just fine if curiosity had not gotten the best of him. Safe behind the wooden wall of the lean-to, he looked around the corner to see where his "mad-as-an-old-wet-hen" wife was.
I can still hear Momo telling this part. "I saw his little eye just a'peekin' around that corner, and I threw that salve box right at it!" Did I mention that Momo was a baseball pitcher? Yep, you guessed it!
She caught Popo right in the eye with the Blue Salve Box!!
Well now! For Popo the fun and games were all OVER! He came out from behind the shed ready to fight. And did Momo back down? Not an inch!
Again, her telling it - "I put up my fists and said 'Come on buster and let's have it out'"
They eventually cooled off and it didn't come to fisticuffs but a great story was produced that has been passed down from generation to generation!
So, were teenagers more mature back then or now-a-days? I'll let you be the judge of that. But I will bet you two bits that young married folks now days won't have great stories like this to tell their grandchildren!
