Age · My Thoughts · poetry

What Crept Up on Me?

Age crept up on me!

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!

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

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? meme

~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

Coronavirus · My Books · My Thoughts

A Baby Boomer with a Purpose!

Older woman looking at a computer - baby boomer

Yes, I am a Baby Boomer, and I just published my sixth book about my experience with the coronavirus pandemic. I’m 68 years old. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, I froze in place, having just arrived home from a trip to Spain. We left Madrid on March 8, 2020, and they had 500 coronavirus cases when we left. On March 9, when we got home, the number count had exploded to 1500 cases! We were sure we would get it, but we didn’t.

Now I could have binge watched every TV show and movie I’ve seen in my life to fill the time, but I faced my fears generated by the insanity of the times and wrote. I wrote poetry and wrote more. Then I shared that poetry in my weekly blogs in the face of this worldwide storm. Several of my readers emailed me, thanking me for putting into words the exact feelings and emotions they were having.

So, as it continued, and I chronicled my experiences, my blog posts became a snapshot of my experience, and I realized I had the roots of a book—a self-help, spiritual/religious memoir journal to console others and show them they were not alone.

But I had another book waiting in the wings—I Said “Yes!”—how to write a biography/memoir after writing Marshall Flippo’s biography and my two memoirs. The coronavirus book sideswiped me. But I had to write it!

You would think a Baby Boomer who’s 68 years old doesn’t have much to say, but I do. I have a purpose in life, and it came through with this book. I want others to feel they had a friend, a companion who walked through what they did and came out better.

During my life, I’ve seen people go through many trials—heartbreaks that could destroy a person. Some came through it bitter; some better! Add to my desire to help, I saw so many people enraged by the pandemic and the restrictions, yet they didn’t have a way to process their pain. My book offered the opportunity to reflect on their experience and respond.

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? cover - baby boomers

The Book Format

So, my blog posts inspired this book. I wrote it in poetry and prose format, interspersing those two forms throughout. I divided it up into thirty-one chapters and started each chapter off with a reflective picture and a mindful quote. Then I ended the chapter with a thought-provoking question/prompt. I want the reader to read, reflect and respond, so the book could be used like a journal.

The title Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? came from my involvement in the recovery world. I have heard repeatedly in the rooms “You either become bitter or better.” So, I saw that same opportunity in facing how the pandemic affected me.

Book Blurbs

Because I originally thought of it as a spiritual/religious self-help book, my marketing agent suggested I give counselors or therapist Advance Reader Copies. So at first, I asked a psychotherapist and a Christian life coach to do the honors. Then I asked a Jesuit priest I’ve known for years in the recovery world. After that I asked the Episcopal bishop of our diocese in New Mexico. All of them said yes and offered kind words I included in the front of the book.

Sample (Not formatted correctly)

Chapter Two

TODAY I BREATHED—IT IS A MONTH!

 “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure…”

Oprah Winfrey

Today I Breathed—It is a Month!

April 8, 2020

Hallelujah!


We made it!

Thirty-one days away

From Madrid

The airport


Now I remember some workers with mask on—

Did they know?


A bustling restaurant downtown

Jovial waiters served our meal.

From Toledo

Crowded busy

Shoulder-to-shoulder

Naïve about the possibility

Lunch in a crowded café

Again, our meal served.

Thirty-one days passed

With

Self-conscious

 Staring

How do I feel now?

How about now?

NOW!

Repeatedly

Habitually I shallow breathe

As it is!

But this last month


I unconsciously held my breath,

Worried,

Afraid

Apprehensive

From being in a hot spot

And not even knowing!

A cough,

Oh, no!

Am I sick?


Is it the virus?

Is it psychosomatic?

I feared the worst,


but it didn’t happen!

I breathed deeply

For the first time

In a month.

Exhale!

Inhale!

Exhale!

Rhythm

Relief

Neither of us got sick!!

Today I believe strongly I’m okay

We dodged a bullet!

Today my husband kissed me

Hugged me

For the first time

In a month!

I ached


For his touch

His lips!

Thirty-one days behind us.

Safe so far,

But still vigilant!


YOUR REFLECTIONS:

A month into the coronavirus pandemic: Where were you? What were you doing? What feelings raged?


As we face reality today, the pandemic still rages. New Mexico just recorded 1761 cases today, the largest number since January 7, 2021. A friend who works at the biggest hospital in Albuquerque told me yesterday they have no room there for anyone except coronavirus cases, so they’re referring non-COVID patients elsewhere. Is the subject of my book still reliant? I would say so.

Finally, I am a Baby Boomer with a purpose. When you read this book, I want you to receive solace deep in your spirit and soul. As you look back with reflection and care, I pray you can look forward with anticipation and hope.

Email me at larada@icloud.com and I will send you the first two chapters for FREE!

What are your thoughts?

Coronavirus Reflections: Biter or Better? meme

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