The times, they are a-changin'

Since I have spent little time at my mother's house since I was 15, and even less time since I developed and interest in cooking, I'm taking advantage of my trip up north to obtain copies of some of my mother's recipes. After going through her recipe box, it has come to my attention that a lot of the things she makes (cookies in particular) contain shortening. I'm sure it's just the generation gap speaking here, as she's a child of the '50s and I am a child of the '80s, but that strikes me as completely disgusting. I definitely need to figure out what I could use as a substitute.