At age 107, he’s seen it all and then some

The question isn’t what you would give a 107-year-old person for his birthday, but what someone of that age might be able to give you. And the answer is: Perspective.

It’s impossible to imagine the things Ocean Pines resident John Edward Romm Jr. has seen in more than a century on this planet, but his time here gives him a viewpoint on our current condition that only a handful of people can appreciate it.

When Mr. Romm was born on Feb. 16, 1919, women did not have the right to vote, the first commercial radio broadcast was still about 21 months away (KDKA in Pittsburgh on Nov. 2., 1920), experimental flu vaccines were being developed, and the Nazi Party in Germany was a little more than a month old.

Over the course of Mr. Romm’s lifetime, this country has endured or witnessed the Great Depression, the rise of Adolf Hitler, World War II,  the creation of the United Nations, the launch of the first space satellite, men walking on the moon, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and the climb and collapse of the Soviet Union.

He has seen the creation of personal computers, cell phones and the internet, Facebook, the comings and goings of 19 U.S presidents, the covid-19 pandemic and the advent of self-driving cars.

As it says in the Good Book, “For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”

Given all that Mr. Romm has seen, experienced, or has heard about during his long, long life, it would be safe to say he could attest to that, and that no matter how bad or good we think things are today, he’s seen worse and he’s seen better … depending on one’s perspective.