Hidden Treasures

Stories passed down from generation to generation oftentimes fall by the wayside. We don't put much creed into what some" old person" is saying in our day and age. I have learned over the years, though, that those "old people" as they are many times referred to are indeed a deep well of interesting facts and stories.

I grew up in a rural area of California. My parents were much older than most of my friends' parents. Where some might find that weird, I loved it. My dad was the best storyteller I knew. He was born in 1916 and could tell you endless stories about how things were during that time. He was born and grew up in Anaheim, California. His dad was the last of the horse and buggy delivery men working for Standard Oil Company which eventually became Chevron Oil Company. At that time, they delivered barrels of Kerosene. Kerosene was used to light the lamps during that time.

I never tired of hearing the history first hand. My dad had a way of making even the simplest stories exciting. My grandparents lived very close to Knott's Berry Farm, the amusement park we all love and enjoy. At that time, it was an actual Berry Farm. My grandmother knew Mrs. Knott very well. She would often take my dad and my aunt and go visit with Mrs. Knott. She liked to buy pies and jams from her. Hearing all of these stories made me realize that we all live day to day not knowing the history of the places we frequent.

If I had chosen not to listen to my dad's stories, I would have missed so many interesting facts, things I might never have known otherwise. I would never have guessed or probably cared that the street Katella in Anaheim was named by the man who made it. He named it after his two daughters Kate and Ella. However, these facts may not interest a lot of people. I think they are great reminders of a time in history that has long been forgotten. Even little things like the city of Azusa being named that because they wanted people to know they had everything from A to Z in the USA...

One of my favorite stories of his was when they were building Disneyland; they didn't tell anyone what was going on. There was a huge wooden fence put up around the area so no one could see. It was that way until it opened. All of the people in the area got to see all the commotion going on, and then when they were ready to open, they got to see the finished product. How exciting that must have been.

Most of the stories like these are vanishing as time goes by, and the generations of children growing up now are too busy to care. Social media has made family conversation a thing of the past. No one seems to care where we started anymore. We live every day, never hearing all the great stories or so many cool things that happened, many of them right around the corner. I think we owe it to future generations to embrace the stories and continue to pass them down. If we forget our history or where we come from, I think we lose a piece of ourselves. The Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Considering what we have gone through as a nation, it might behoove us to pay attention to these "old people" a little more.