To the editor:

You all pull up a seat and sit a spell. I have some stories to tell.

As I was taking lunch recently at an area restaurant, I noticed an elderly couple walk in. I would say they were in their late 70s. What caught my eye was they were holding hands — a rarity these days. After a quick laugh, he proceeded to kiss her on the cheek. How wonderful for the love between them still alive.

I thought about that moment, that couple and the many like them that have stories to tell of a childhood, teenage years and sadly the depression area. How wonderful it would be for them to be able to have their stories gathered into a form of a book, celebrating their lives; that generation of what they experienced without the conveniences of today.

How wonderful for them to be able to share their stories within the schools among the students. Some of you who are reading this are maybe that age who have a few stories to tell of a time in the past. For them life was very much a rough time because they did experience those depression days, long ago, not forgotten.

Yes, today we still have problems: Obamacare, drugs, pressures in school, shootings and the unknown, in the world ahead of us.

Few years back, I among others became a fan of a TV show called “The Waltons.” The show was about the life of Earl Hamner, a young lad, growing up in a family of seven in the depression and the everyday struggles his family faced.

Now back in those times, there were very few radios or TV and for them one telephone, which could only be found, within walking distance of the one general store. In the day, any financial capital or work wasn’t to be found; they were much a precious item.

At night, the parents would sit and relax on the front porch, listening to the crickets as the children would wind up there day catching fire flies or playing on a tire swing.

And yes, someday this generation will look back and tell the generations of tomorrow, I have some stories to tell about a time long ago — the good, the bad. So pull up a seat, sit a spell, because I have some stories to tell.

John Flaute

Houston