Baby boomer with a purpose: my new motto! So, each month I will feature something to do with being a baby boomer. Let’s look at how age crept up on me during the pandemic.
So who are the baby boomers?
Baby boomers (often shortened to boomers) are the demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the post–World War II baby boom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers
So, where do you fit in the generations? Here’s a chart with the age of the person as of 2022:
As a younger adult, I thought by the time I was sixty+ I would have figured it all out. I also felt life move at a nice cadence for most of my adult life; however, the adage, “Time speeds up the older you got,” has become a reality! Did the pandemic and its hyper focus on the tragedy we experienced speed time up?
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, I wrote this poem, and I didn’t include it in my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?
Age Crept Up on Me!
August 12, 2020
Only yesterday, I was 16
It seems
You may laugh
My age shows
In wrinkles
Years lived
Dyed red hair to hide the grey
With white
Escaping near my eyes.
Something happened!
An acceleration
Of time
minutes
years
Recently!
Is it a side effect of the coronavirus?
Too much time on my hands?
Pondering my existence
In uncertain times?
I remember 18
High school graduation
Four in my graduating class
Started kindergarten together
Trinidad State Junior College
Fifty miles from home
Anxious about my future
And how my dreams
Would play out.
I remember 20
Newly married
With life and dreams
Spread out before me.
Hopeful and positive
I remember 30
Divorced and devastated
At the university
And
Starting over
With dreams of being a teacher.
I remember 40
In sexual trauma treatment
For incest
Uncovering and recovering from
Childhood pain
And dashed dreams.
I remember 50
Celebrated at
The National Square Dance Convention
In Oklahoma City
Serenaded at our After Party by
Jerry Junck
Mike Hogan
Lanny Weaklend
Still dreaming
About possibilities.
I remember 60
Mom had just died
A feeble celebration in Branson
With Bub, Lin and Jackie.
My dreams diminished by the pain
The loss.
Yes, you see
I’m not 16
But 67!
I look in the mirror
And recently
Somehow
Age crept up on me.
In that mirror
I see years
Life
Experiences.
I received no warning,
No alarm.
I see an older woman,
A matured lady,
A seasoned Larada.
Where did the years go?
Fast living
A rich life
A multitude of adventures
Yes, age crept up!
Quickly
Relentlessly
Quietly
Without warning.
So be aware
It can and may
Happen to you!
Finally,
Will it happen to you? As you walk through your wondrous life, slow down and note those beautiful serendipities God showers on each of us. Another special adage, “Slow down and smell the flowers” could become our new motto as we travel through this day, this month, this year! Make 2022 a marked special year!
What are your thoughts about aging? Where do you fit in the generations—which group? Can you chronicle the highlights of each decade of your life and glory in the wonders of it?
Be sure and leave your comments below so we can talk about this idea.
~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story
~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with my interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:
~Buy a copy of Flippo’s biography on my website: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
~Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com
