Whenever I think about living in another era, I think about the medical issues I have dealt with and how there would not have been such good medical care any other century, or even just a few decades ago.
I was about 45 hours in labor with my child. If not for all kinds of medical intervention, I probably would have died. I had Guillain Barre syndrome about 9 years ago. If not for all sorts of medical intervention, I could have died or been severely handicapped. I swallowed a bone once and had to have an endoscopy to have it removed. I can’t imagine life with the pain of that bone stuck in my throat, not to mention I am not sure if I’d be able to swallow food with the bone there.
My mom survived over six years with stage 4 breast cancer. It was stage 4 when it was diagnosed, so she beat the odds just by living six years with it. That in itself was wonderful.
Some people are nostalgic for the 1950’s and 60’s in the US, when America was prospering and the population was moving to the suburbs and making casseroles. However, I think of how people then were dying of stroke not knowing how to prevent them. Everyone was smoking cigarettes and drinking cocktails, not realizing that they were killing themselves.
I do think if there were an era and/or place I’d like to have lived, if just for the fun part, it would be either the Victorian era or “Little House on the Prairie.” However, when I think about the medical stuff, I’m very happy living in the here and now.