"Good Night, Louise, Good Night"
“Good Night, Louise, Good Night”
— Lyrics from the song “Louise,” written
by Paul Siebel
Recently I received a letter from an 87-year-old lady named Louise, who has ties to Maury County and lives in a Northern state. It was a sweet letter, one in which she sought answers from me, of all people. In essence, she yearned to know why times had changed, asking specific questions, and I responded to her letter.
Thank-you for writing to me in the middle of the night, as I sit here writing to you in the middle of the night.
Through the years I have received mail from many readers. However, your three-page letter is my favorite.
First of all, I am impressed that you knew to include a heading in your letter, and that it was a handwritten letter, a rarity these days. I apologize to you for writing my letter on a computer, but I write faster on a computer.
I am impressed that you are 87 years old and that you took the time to write to me on a frosty cold morn at 1 a.m. in the morning. This is the part of the letter that touched me the most, to think that someone, somewhere in a faraway state, a lady was taking the time to write to me, a stranger, seeking answers, and possibly a connection in the still of the night.
Although I am of ‘a different generation,’ I share some of your concerns. However, I must tell you that I am a retired teacher, and I see trends of today that you probably don’t know about, and that is for the best.
Honestly, I don’t know why young brides now wear strapless wedding dresses. Times change, styles change, trends change. I happen to believe change is a good thing.
I don’t why Elizabeth Taylor “pushed her breasts up so high,” but maybe she saw herself as the same beauty she was in her younger days. Perhaps she actually was that same beauty.
Boys and girls dye their hair blue, pink, and green in an attempt to express themselves. I believe this trend will have no lasting effect on our society, since we now have problems among teens such as drugs, gang violence, and living with parents who use drugs themselves, and who are often away from home at night while their teens are home alone in bed, that is, if they have a bed in which to sleep.
As for people not showing up at school reunions, I believe that in today’s busy world, former classmates maintain contact with their old childhood friends, and that is enough for many people. Louise, technology has changed the world. Today, friends connect via texting and e-mail. Of all the questions you ask me, I will say that it is technology that has changed our world the most, but I believe overall, the change is for the better.
Your questions for me are a generational thing, I believe. Your generation was not taught to delve deep inside to question childhood trauma or anything like that. Adults were respected; children were trained to conform. Such is not the case today, and that can be a good thing, if the children are taught to question authority with respect and boundaries.
In today’s world, some children are not always taught manners, and yet it is the very parents of these children who throw fits to the administrators and the teachers at the schools, where they are the ones who are blamed for the children not doing their homework. Of course, this is not always the case: There are still many active, involved, good parents. I also believe that children should be taught to have the courage and the support to speak out, when their parents or other adults inflict harm upon them. Children have a voice and they need to use it accordingly in order to live healthy lives.
As for women wearing thongs, we now live in a world of comfort. Dress codes and hairstyles have changed drastically, and nothing is questioned for the most part.
You ask why Riverside hotels have air conditioners so close to the beds. Probably because the hotels on Riverside Drive are old, and are not up to current architectural standards. Speaking of Riverside, my husband and I like to eat at The Lamplighter on Riverside Drive, that overlooks the Duck River. The Lamplighter is now River Terrace, one of our favorite restaurants. The food has changed, but the history and the ambiance of the restaurant remain.
You wonder why parents take their overweight kids to McDonald’s, and it is because they are too stressed out from work, trying to make money to buy their children everything they want, and some parents no longer cook. Southern food, fresh out of the garden, will become extinct and the children will never know about the food we ate. In the future, children will ask, ‘Mom, what is a cobbler?’
That’s about all I know, Louise. My husband and I have tried to instill some values into our children, and yet we question the values that were handed down to us. It is not such a bad world. It is a different world, for sure, but change is inevitable and change is good, in the long run.
Thanks for writing in the still of the night, and take care of yourself. Congratulations on your long life — I hope it has been a good one so far.
Just curious, what was your job with the government?”
Julie Gillen writes a humor column for The Daily Herald. She may be contacted at email@example.com. Her blog is http://juliegillenblog.blogspot.com.