End Of An Era

By Thomas Morrone CFP®, CPA

On January 30, 2019, my uncle Ed passed away peacefully. He was the last of my father’s siblings (Morrone) to pass on. All my mom’s siblings (Savo) have previously passed. When you reach an age of 90+, some say, “what a great run” and I agree with that statement. Ed could design and build an addition to a house. He could use his fine motor skills to build a miniature doll house and furniture to scale. He was always there to lead or lend a hand on a project. His engineering mind was always at work and he used that mindset in an artistic manner as well. He loved music and was an accomplished organ player. With his passing, an era of my upbringing came to an end. My parents and their siblings lived through some amazing times. For my generation, World War II was something we read about in our history books in school. For their generation, they lived through it and endured sacrifices to support the world efforts to put an end to the war. One of my father’s brothers, Peter, made the ultimate sacrifice and died when his plane crashed after being shot down by the enemy. My father’s other brother Victor was in a bomber plane that was shot down as well. He was wounded in the crash, but he survived and received the Purple Heart.

Our generation and that of our children, cannot comprehend living through an era where the world is at war. Those challenges shaped that generation to be resilient and appreciative of the simplest of things. All my aunts and uncles had that unique characteristic and hopefully we are making them proud by continuing to respect the morals and values that their generation fought so fiercely to uphold. These past few weeks I have reflected on this concept with Uncle Ed’s passing. Also, the changes that their generation lived through had to be amazing. Many things that we now take for granted did not even exist or were in their infancy stages of their development. Technology, communications, computers, the internet, and transportation to name just a few items. They could not miss something that did not exist. They got by with what they had, and they did just fine. I remember many years ago talking to Cathy’s uncle Jack before he passed away. We were discussing changes that he saw in his lifetime. What he commented on was the speed that we currently received information about newsworthy items from around the world. In his childhood, you had to wait and read about the news in the newspaper. Now, we just look at our phone and the news from around the world is literally available in the palm of our hands. No one writes letters anymore. That takes way too long and by time the letter arrived in the mail the information was outdated. My aunts and uncles longed to receive a letter in the mail, from any one about anything. Letter writing was the basic means of communication for so many people for so many years. When Cathy and I first started dating in our college years, letter writing was what we did. Cell phones did not exist yet. Many of my aunts and uncles did not have a phone in their homes let alone their own phone that they carried in their pocket or purse.

There will always be change in the world and hopefully most of it is for the good. My aunts and uncles will all be missed and the change that they brought into my world was all good. I would like to think that uncle Ed is in a better place reunited with those that he loved and have passed before him.

Rest in peace uncle Ed and give all the Morrones and Savos and especially my mom and dad, a big hug and a kiss from me.

Until the Next Tom’s Take…

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