I think forgiveness might be easier for me than understanding the lesson. Compassion is something many depressed people seem blessed with. Isn't it a fine line between compassion and forgiveness? As Tomi stated above, her mother was taught what she was taught by her mother, who was possibly taught by her mother or some other significant person in her life.

I think we can consider that the life we live now, with furnaces, washer / dryers, telephones, etc... is a much easier life than our ancestors were forced to survive. Changing times can change attitudes, personalities, behaviour. Maybe our generation is at a point of crossing the lines between hard survivor mentality and allows us to spend more time thinking of ways to be kinder and more courteous because our comfort level is much higher than the past. Many old ideologies are dying by the way. We find ourselves in a transition of behaviour, expectations, thought processes, etc... We could consider that only two generations ago, a different attitude was not only normal, but even necessary for survival. Crying or complaining wasted precious time and people weren't granted understanding as easily. Now we've begun to consider the individual as more of a living, feeling person than in the past. Maybe the "toughness" some of our ancestors exhibited kept the food on the table, the wood chopped, and it was necessary to be tough. Not exactly our situation in the nuclear age.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall." Confucius