Ferne remembers having the first baby born needing an incubator at the now St. Luke’s Hospital, formerly the Quakertown Hospital. Ferne recounted the contraption as a makeshift shoebox with lights designed to get the job done. We’ve come a long way since those times in many areas including health, technology and in our culture and at this mid way part of the year some great commentary was given to me by Ferne and some others in their current place of residence The Phoebe Richland community. I asked Ferne and fellow resident, another area lifer, Peg Smith what they see as the biggest change our area has undertaken. Without hesitation both remarked the addition of housing, developments and business’s to our area. Peg and Ferne recounted how many decades ago our area, as bucolic as it may seem to many of us now, was even more dramatically serene and less occupied in days gone by. Farmlands, nature and wildlife both women recounted have been sacrificed as growth has greatly expanded throughout our region. Ferne managed a home with 11 rooms on a nearby homestead and recounts with great joy the care and undertaking of her family as one way to insure one’s longevity. Peg also described her home in Milford Square, a restored mill, in a loving way that served as a private sanctuary in raising her children and growing a loving family. I couldn’t help but ask these well proven and seasoned citizens what advice or feelings they have about people in middle age, or younger. Ferne, a woman with a clear zest for life and with a mind razor sharp, looked me dead on and said parents today have a tough time. Ferne explained back in years gone by things were simpler, today it’s almost the exception that both parents aren’t working and this means less time with family and a severe strain on all members. This, in Ferne’s mind is a significant problem, as she explained that it’s family closeness, love and nurturing that not only helps raise great children but also serves as a key ingredient to our own good health and wellness.