I'm a war baby. During the Depression and the war, birth rates were way down and ours was a very small generation. We are so small that we don't have a name or even a president. Not one president was born between 1924 and 1946. Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama are all Boomers.* So we have kind of sneaked through life sandwiched between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers and no one noticed us much. No big deal; but the upshot is that most of the attention just misses us, especially research and advice. The media began looking at college preparation and choice shortly after I got my BA, They focused on issues raising toddlers as our kids entered high school. 'Empty nest' became a common term long after our birds had flown the coop. We were in our late 50s when magazine articles began to worry about middle-aged crisis.
So what's the point here? Well, as we have aged, we haven't had the benefit of much outside guidance and have had to discover things about getting old on our own. So there was no advance warning to me from talk shows or Dear Abby about the most disturbing realization of aging. And that is, that you aren't going to get it all done.
When you are young, it's like a kid with a toy catalog: "I want that...and that...and that..." There is no limit. So you think "Someday I'm going to build a log cabin on a lake" and a few days later, "Someday I want to visit China." And so on. It's not a bucket list because there is no deadline, no end in sight. So never once do you think, 'Well, if I build a log cabin, I won't have time to visit China. Ever.' But in your seventies, you have to face that fact. Not that you can't do those particular two things, but that you can't do everything. You realize that even though you're not at the end of your road, you can see the exit.
So I have accepted that I am not going to live and write in a garret in Paris or become a Rockette. This will be a shock to some but I have given up on perfecting my triple axel. I don't think I will run for Congress or sail around the world in a small boat. Actually, this acceptance should make life simpler.
I am not trying to be morbid here; I just want to give you Boomers a head's up to expect lots of discussion of this topic in about five years. Meanwhile, I wonder if I have time to learn a few French verbs this morning...
* This is not to say that we have had no impact. This no-name generation includes the Beatles, Mick Jagger, Barbara Streisand, John Denver, Nelson DeMille, Robert deNiro, Wilma Rudolph, and John Kerry, to name a few.
So what's the point here? Well, as we have aged, we haven't had the benefit of much outside guidance and have had to discover things about getting old on our own. So there was no advance warning to me from talk shows or Dear Abby about the most disturbing realization of aging. And that is, that you aren't going to get it all done.
When you are young, it's like a kid with a toy catalog: "I want that...and that...and that..." There is no limit. So you think "Someday I'm going to build a log cabin on a lake" and a few days later, "Someday I want to visit China." And so on. It's not a bucket list because there is no deadline, no end in sight. So never once do you think, 'Well, if I build a log cabin, I won't have time to visit China. Ever.' But in your seventies, you have to face that fact. Not that you can't do those particular two things, but that you can't do everything. You realize that even though you're not at the end of your road, you can see the exit.
So I have accepted that I am not going to live and write in a garret in Paris or become a Rockette. This will be a shock to some but I have given up on perfecting my triple axel. I don't think I will run for Congress or sail around the world in a small boat. Actually, this acceptance should make life simpler.
I am not trying to be morbid here; I just want to give you Boomers a head's up to expect lots of discussion of this topic in about five years. Meanwhile, I wonder if I have time to learn a few French verbs this morning...
* This is not to say that we have had no impact. This no-name generation includes the Beatles, Mick Jagger, Barbara Streisand, John Denver, Nelson DeMille, Robert deNiro, Wilma Rudolph, and John Kerry, to name a few.
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