Do you ever think about those people who lived in biblical times? If you do a little research, you can find that people lived to be over 900 years old in ancient times. It’s really hard to believe, but it’s there in print. 

Bible scholars have debated to an extent, but overall, most accept this as fact.

Enosh lived 905 years, Cainan lived 910 years, and Jared 962. Poor Mahalaleel must have lived a more carefree life style, only living to 895. 

Maybe he ate too much fried food.

After the Flood, things started going downhill. Abraham and Issac both failed to reach the tender age of 200 with Abe passing away at 175 and Isaac making it to 180. Jacob made it to 147 and Joseph was 110. 

Moses, with all he’d been through, lived to be 120.

Can you imagine the amount of grandchildren? How many “greats” could one accumulate in that length of time? Would you be able to keep track of all the birthdays? People lived together as tribes or clans. Would it have been possible to have known your old grandfather personally? You may have had to make an appointment. 

I’ve often wondered what it would be like if the folks I’ve held dear lived on for a length of time. How often have I seen, in my mind’s eye, my own grandmothers interacting with my little girls or my grandpas laughing at the escapades of my sons? My grandmothers only lived long enough to see my sons as babies, and my grandfathers were gone a long time before any of my kiddos came along. 

It’s fun to think of my youngest daughter babbling on about things as my grandmothers watched and listened. My maternal grandmother would have wanted to rock my kids, and she would have probably always had cookies or something fun for them to eat at her house. 

My paternal grandmother would have fretted over her house or what she was wearing, as she did when my oldest son was a baby. Before we visited once, she went in and put on a brightly colored blouse, which she thought a baby would like. I always thought that was sweet. She would have looked for a toy she had stored somewhere or she would have gone to the store and purchases a can of Playdoh or something. She would have encouraged the kids to explore her farm full of ramshackle barns and interesting nooks and crannies.

I’ve written about my third set of “grandparents” before, Toby and Fawn, who lived next door to me from birth to age 12 before they both passed away. Both of them loved children so, and they always had plenty of fun things to do at their house. 

Toby was especially partial to red-headed kids because redheads were prevalent in his family. I’ve often wondered what he would have thought of my red-headed boys. 

Fawn would have pulled things out of the toy closet or invited all my kids to dig in her flowers or draw pictures or help her with a sewing project. They would have enjoyed their pseudo “greats” immensely.

It’s a shame people can’t live as long as they used to.

Mark Tullis is a veteran teacher in the Columbia School District. Originally from Fairfield, he is married with four children and has been involved in various aspects of professional and community theater for many years. He has written a “slice of life” style column for this newspaper since 2007.