Friday, May 21, 2021

Talkin' bout my Generation

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Lately, I've been contemplating the ineffable nature of time, and culture, and the meaning of life. Why are we here? What are we doing? And most importantly, why am I turning 60 in a little over a month?

Ugh.

This headstone milestone birthday has me spinning - first I'm buying heavy-duty face creams, then I'm laughing at "do you remember the 70s" blogs, followed by looking up actuarial tables, and coming back to rest at "60 is the New 40." I certainly feel more like 40 than 60 (if I ignore my knees.) 

 

When my mom turned 60, two of her three adult children were married, she had three grandkids with another on the way, and she lived in an "adult only" community. When her mother turned 60, she had sixteen grandchildren, the oldest of which was about to get married and start law school. I'm still waiting for my last child to finish with her bachelor's degree.

The thing that really chafes me about my age (other than the inevitable triumph of entropy) is that my cohort is still defined as "Boomer." Why does that generation label stretch from 1945 to 1965? You know who's the same age as me? George Cloony. Julia-Louis Dreyfus. Barack Obama. And Michelle was born at the beginning of 1964. You gonna call the Obamas Boomers? I though not.

 It seems unfair to be saddled with the label when I missed out on all the formative Boomer stuff. Black and white TV? Beatlemania? Howdy Doody? Nope. I was a baby during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy's assassination, and the early space program. The banner year of 1968, I turned seven, and the only thing I recall about that year was getting to ride my bike - by myself! - to my elementary school. 

My college years and young adult life took place in the go-go eighties, with big shoulder pads and feathered hair fighting against ripped jeans and punk rock 'dos. We listened to Culture Club, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Elvis Costello and Adam Ant. The big byword was "30 by 30" - ambitious college grads of the class of '84 wanted to earn $30,000 by age 30. (According to the CPI calculator, that adjusts to $63,500 today, which doesn't seem too shabby.)  

 When I was in grad school (pursuing that lucrative Museum Studies degree - greed is good, baby!) my cousins who had been born between '45 and '55 had spouses, mortgages and kids. These were people who had to duck and cover when they were kids - but for me, the Cold War was over by the time I was 28. (Does anyone remember how it was going to be "the end of history?")

 Look, I don't want to step on any Gen X toes. I hear you 41 to 56 year-olds grumbling that no one remembers you. But I also don't want to say, "I'm a Boomer" and have everyone assume I danced the Watusi and wore a miniskirt (although Hank's lavender hot pants wedding outfit kind of makes me wish I hadn't missed that stage.) I just want a label that reflects the culture I and my good friends George and Barack grew up in. Maybe "Generation Reagan," since the Teflon President loomed so large in our lives. Maybe "The Punk and Preppie Peers."

 What do you think, dear readers? Are you in the odd little group born from '60 to '65? Do you feel your age? And most importantly, is 60, in fact, the new 40?!?

87 comments:

  1. Well, no . . . I don’t feel my age, but then I cannot think of a time when I actually did.
    I don’t know if 60 is the new 40, but I think that rationalization epitomizes the shift in the way we view aging today. Most people remain involved and active, are healthier, and live longer than in years past. So if “baby boomers” are still active, healthy, and enjoying life, it certainly seems to me that it’s all to the good . . . .

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  2. Age is a state of mind. I do not feel my "age". Now I am dealing with "dry eyes", which has more to do with air pollution. In some ways, I am "older" in terms of knowing about movies and books. In some ways, I am "younger" in terms of knowing about music since I did not get my cochlear implant until after I became an adult.


    Speaking of Barack Obama, he is a month younger than Princess Diana who died at 36.

    My grandmother died a month before her 61st birthday (asthma) and a close relative died two months before her 54th birthday of Stage 4 Cancer. I only have gratitude that I live to see every birthday. Years before the meningitis vaccine existed, I almost died before my 2nd birthday from pneumonia meningitis.

    My grandfather and his siblings lived into their 80s. My grandfather's doctor told him that he looked 20 years younger. He always exercised and followed the dietary rules that the alternative doctor put the family on when my mom was a kid. No white sugar. No white bread. Whole Wheat bread. Nuts. Lots of vegetables and fruits. Yes, they thought meat and dairy was ok in these days. Now we know more about plant based foods and mediterranean diet.


    Diana

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    1. Diana, the change in how we (usually) eat is a good point, although I have to say my maternal grandmother died at the age of 88 without having many health problems at all, and she smoked and ate enough salt to brine a watermelon every day. Of course, she grew up eating food her family grew, so she had a good start in life. She claimed her good health was due to a single glass of port every evening, so maybe I should start doing that - it seems like a very easy habit to take up!

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  3. I'm solidly in the Boomer group, born in 1952, and did all those things - and shoulder pads, too!

    I certainly felt younger at 60 than my parents and grandparents had seemed. By the age I am now, my father and one of his sisters were dead, and neither of his parents lived past 70. Like Diana above, I am grateful for every day I get, and I try to stay healthy so I can keep going - although I'm NOT venturing over to the vegan side.

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    1. And I'm still waiting for grandchildren, which doesn't seem quite fair, although I *think* #1 son and wife might produce one in a year or two. Fingers crossed on that one!

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    2. Edith, a friend pointed out we are going to turn back to those images of "grandma and grandpa" you see in the 1930s and 40s - plump people with silver hair. Back then, people just seemed to age earlier, as you note, and now it's going to be because we waited to have kids, and our kids are waiting to have kids, so we're not going to be grandparents until our sixties.

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    3. Edith,

      Wonder if you walk/hike or do yoga ?

      Diana

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    4. Diana, I power walk every day, and once my hand is all healed I'm going to get back to gentle senior yoga. I love being outside!

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  4. My hubby and I have been talking about age a lot lately. Mostly because he keeps forgetting his age, doing stupid stuff, and then ending up back in PT and definitely feeling his age!

    I'm a Boomer, born in 1959. I remember having a rough time with the looming 60th birthday a few years ago, but I'm over it. I'm grateful for my health and a body that works well. I see a lot of folks around me who are my age or much MUCH younger but who are in much worse shape, so I refuse to complain.

    Much. (There is that dry eye thing that Diana mentioned. (Refresh Mega is a Godsend)

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    1. Ooh, thanks for the tip, Annette. I have chronic dry eye, not age related since it's been a problem since I was a teen (in my mini skirt...)

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    2. Deborah, the "Mega" version of the Refresh drops are what my eye doctor recommended and she's right. They do work better--for me, at least--than the others.

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    3. Annette, my complaint are the aforementioned knees. I have friends who got knee replacement and were able to go back to playing tennis, so maybe an operation is in my future.

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    4. Annette,

      Thanks for the tip!

      Diana

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  5. Oh my, I have cookie sheets older than most of you. (And children.)

    At sixty I had two grandchildren, was living in Pacifica -- 12 miles south of San Francisco -- and was working 60 hours in a good week. New forty? Unfortunately no one told my knees about that.

    It was the year Dubya was elected, the year I went to England for the first time, the year before I moved to Rochester, and the year before 9/11.

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    1. Those are honorable cookie sheets. What kind of cookies do they specialize in?

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    2. Ann, thank you for the perspective - old cookie sheets are the best cookie sheets!

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    3. Hahaha! I love that line, Ann. Cookie sheets older than most of you. I have a some bowls and dishes Philip and I got when we married, coming up on 45 years ago, and I was thinking about them the other day while I used one, how special they are. Of course, the metal mixing bowl with dents that belonged to my mother is my favorite still-used item.

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    4. Gigi, my favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin with pecans. I look on them as a well rounded breakfast. I am amongst the three people in the free world who don’t really like Toll House.

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  6. I was born at the beginnings of the fifties. I never bothered about labels. Everyone is unique. I live my life as I choose and as I please. I’ve always felt a little an outsider when considered with others.
    In my head , I’m a lot younger. In my body, it depends of the day even if I take care of myself. Mostly, I’m grateful for each healthy day that is offered to me.

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    1. Sounds like a healthy attitude, Danielle. And yes, I remember my grandmother saying to me, "I'm always surprised when I look in the mirror and see this old lady. In my head, I'm still eighteen!"

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  7. I was born just after the Baby Boomers in 1966 but never considered myself as part of Generation X.
    I do remember having feathered hair and wearing business suits that my mom made for me with big shoulder pads in the mid-1980s.

    And no, I don't feel my age. The long PT from the broken ankle, annoying new food allergies and getting long-hauler COVID last year have slowed me down but I am still pretty active and am enjoying retired life.

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    1. Grace, you have been m inspiration this year, giving me hope for recovery from this pesky ankle fracture. Thank you so very much.

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    2. Agreed. Grace, you are an inspiration to us - because sooner or later, everyone will go through a time of physical disability. You show us how to get through it.

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  8. Party time for Julia! I'm a solid Boomer too, but I so agree with others who feel younger at this age than our parents and grandparents did. I also wore the feathered hair and lots of shoulder pads--if they came back into fashion, someone please stop me??

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    1. I think we need to throw a party for Julia.

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    2. Yes, Julia party! No on the the shoulder pads! If there was anything good about clothes in the 80s, I can't find it.

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    3. Peplums, yes! I had the most amazing dinner suit or moire silk with a pencil skirt and a jacket/top with a peplum. I looked like a million bucks. Of course, I lived in DC, where I regularly had occasions to wear a dinner suit...

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  9. Boomer! Class of 1952. Beatles, mini-skirts, love beads, water buffalo sandals, and yes, big shoulders and Norma Kamali silk shirts - all part of my life and a few of my favorite things. So was the Preppy Handbook - hysterical and three different styles of Hustle (disco - not Ponzi scheme).

    If you ask me, I'm 35, if you look at my birth certificate - well, that tells a different story. My great grandparents all lived past 100, my dad to 92. I exercise, tend to enjoy an organic diet when possible, but am a firm believer in Pizza Friday. It's all about balance :) Live strong, Reds.

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  10. Age is just a number, until you're eligible for senior discounts and then it becomes a pleasure.

    Celebrate!

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    1. Margaret, I'm not going to lie - I'm SUPER looking forward to those senior discounts. At our (sadly now out of business) local cinema, I started getting the senior ticket a few years ago. With my silver hair, none of the teens manning the entry even thought to ask.

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  11. I was born on Halloween, 1947. Boomer here, no question! We sat in the school hallway with our heads between our knees during air-raid practice. We lined up in the same hallway to get the polio vaccine. We worn skirts and dresses to school all the time, right up until college. We washed our hair with Luster Creme and Prell Shampoo in glass bottles and jars and just missed out on the miracle of fluoride in toothpaste before our first cavity. We watched Romper Room, Howdy Doody, then Mickey Mouse Club, Band Stand, every cowboy show you can remember, Sky King, Sea Hunt, SO MANY.

    I do not feel my age although I know there is a huge difference in stamina. My mother was 27 when I was born, her mother was a lot younger than that when she was born. Women born in the 1800's married younger and had children. Grandma had 3, Mom had 2, I had one. I married at 33 and, fearful of the biological clock thingy, had Jonathan at 34.

    For my 60th birthday, we went to a dude ranch in Colorado and earned our saddle sores. We could still do all the stuff the kids could do. I am glad to have lived this long and to have seen this much. I think that I could be in better shape now and am starting to feel like I should try. So, happy birthday soon Julia. My 60's were great!

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    1. Sky King, Judy! What about My Friend Flicka??

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    2. Too sentimental. Not a fan.

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    3. Thanks, Judy! My bff/college roommate and I were going to celebrate our mutual birthday in a big way, but Covid put the kibosh on our plan: to take a Cunard cruise to London and see a bunch of shows. Now... not so much. Maybe we can do it before next June!

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    4. Julia, we should celebrate our June birthdays together!

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    5. Yay. A Julia/Debs party!

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  12. I loved my sixties.. happy birthday, baby Julia! Now you can do anything you want. You’re wise you’re talented you’re successful you’re healthy — this is your decade of power.

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    1. Thank you, Hank! My friend Jess Estevao (Jessica Ellicott)told me I was a Metal Ox in the Chinese zodiac and now I feel totally rad.

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    2. METALOX! I just typed that by mistake without the space,and that it makes it so funny I am still laughing. Rock band? Medication? Sunday brunch food?

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  13. As a Gen X'er, I don't feel I have a reason to complain. :) Except when my son insists on calling me "Boomer." (As in, "Okay, Boomer," that ridiculous line that was all over social media for a while and seemed to apply to anyone over the age of 35.)

    My husband however, born in 1964, is a Boomer. It is weird to think of him in the same generation as my 74-year-old father.

    But yeah, Gen X. Heck, there was a TV program that put up a graphic that went from Baby Boomers, to Millennials, to Gen Z. Thanks, guys. Us Gen X'ers will just be over here working away (I think I read somewhere that the majority of small businesses in America are owned by Gen X'ers).

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    1. That makes sense, Liz, since another term for Gen X was "the latchkey generation." All those kids who came home and made their own snacks and got started on dinner before the parents got back - that creates a self-sufficient mindset, right there!

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  14. Oh, Julia, yeah, turning 60 can seem so old! But as one of the very first Boomers, I wouldn't mind being 60 again, or maybe staying at 60.

    Every once in a while I think about Edith and Archie in All in the Family. They seemed so old but were only in their early forties! It was a different time. I think about my grandmother who wore "old lady" shoes. Age didn't mean much then but I have since figured out that she was in her early fifties, not old at all. All a matter of perspective. Cher is a month younger than I am but I guess she has had a lot of "work" done so her age doesn't show. Some people have very good genes.

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    1. Judi, I do think of that. We have a photo of my grandmother at my mom's college graduation (I was born six days later!) Grandma is wearing a sort of little old lady dress, a pillbox hat and has a poodle perm. She looks older than I do now - and she was 51.

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  15. Boomer here--1954. Beatles, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, CN&Y, bell-bottoms (nothing too outlandish), t-shirts, long hair parted in the middle and luckily naturally straight as a stick. Short hair, pin-striped suit, and MGTV in the 80s.

    Turning 50 was harder than 60 for me--not sure why, I was still climbing the fruit trees to prune them. My nephews--bless their little hearts--say I still look like 40 at the most. I'll take it and every day that comes my way! Happy birthday, Julia!

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  16. Well Julia, you and my baby brother were born the same year. Brian will be 60 in November. We were 5 kids in our family, stretching from 1946 to 1961. That is a big gap between oldest and youngest. I tend to not think about age, except when someone hits me in the face with it. Turning 70 at the Dallas Bouchercon was my hardest birthday. It sucked. I told Frank I wanted to ignore it completely and for once he did as I requested. I've observed that people now are "younger" at these "advanced" ages than our parents and grandparents were at the same ages. And I don't think it's a matter of perspective. I don't mind being called a baby boomer. My 43 year old son does not like being lumped into a group though. Gen X? I'm not even sure.

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    1. Pat, I suspect everyone has a hard birthday. I was GREAT on my 40th - I had a ten month old baby and my debut book contract. One of my close friends, on the other hand, had a terrible time with her 40th. It's all whatever hits you for who-knows-what reasons.

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  17. My 60s were awesome. I retired from office work in a university setting where the drama was high,self made and boring. I spread my creative wings and had my first essay published in a juried regional anthology (and three more following this one), had a short story published in an Anthony winning anthology, and published a novel. Started taking photography classes and mixed media collage classes. And made my first trip to Paris. I was always a slower starter/late bloomer and now at age 73 curious about what comes next. I have fewer days ahead of me for adventures and explorations - me, my new hip, and a curious as a cat husband are looking forward to whatever they might be. Happy Birthday, Julia! Enjoy your day and all the days to come.

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    1. Kaye, you and your red cowboy boots are definitely an inspiration!

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  18. I'm a solid Boomer from 1956, so I am old enough to remember Kennedy, MLK, Vietnam, and Woodstock, but wasn't old enough at the time to partake. My dad had iron control of our media, so I mostly missed the Beatles, the Stones, and Janis, but I could argue serious pros and cons in the Bernstein v. Ormandy smackdown. (I was a Bernstein girl.)

    I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to my age since I hit the "F- you, I'm 40" stage. Many days I feel like a 12-year-old who is getting away with stuff: I can have all the pets I want, blow off the chores, and read all day whenever I feel like it. And eat cookies. So there.

    Sixty gave me pause, however. Warren, who was 11 years older than me, died when he was 59. Turning 60 meant I was officially older than he ever got to be. I decided I wanted to contemplate that (and escape a weekend of piccolo auditions) so I spent my birthday exploring Santa Fe from my room at La Fonda. I came through just fine.

    But I do believe that we all look younger at whatever age than our grandparents did. I ran across a photo of my grandmother the other day. She must have been around 50, but she looked ancient. I don't look like that yet.

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    1. Gigi, you may have hit on part of my problem, which I didn't realize until I saw this. Ross died a month before his 60th birthday - about where I am now.

      I'm having complicated feelings about this.

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    2. I bet those are complicated, Julia. So hard. When I hit 63, and my dad had died at 62, I really thought about how young he was (and how much he, as a lifelong writer, would have LOVED my current and last career).

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    3. It was definitely a moment for me, Julia. Sort of the sense of turning that page forever. Now it's up to me to make sure the next chapters are just as interesting.

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  19. I'm a boomer. I did not feel especially old when I turned 60. Like Kaye, my 60s were awesome. I found my voice in suspense. Got to go all over, talk, and people *listened*! Welcomed grandchildren into the world. Realized I'd gotten lucky and married a keeper.

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    1. I'm so happy to hear from women who really blossomed in their 60s, because that's what I hope to do! And yes, Hallie, you won the gold medal in the husband sweepstakes :-)

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  20. Boomer here, Class of '52. I was looking at a photo of my mom the other day, taken when she exactly the age I am now, and thinking, "this is weird." Although my parents were young for their ages (my dad was fourteen years older than my mom). And they both lived into their 90s. Whenever I start dreading a birthday (and my hubby, four years younger than me, is a huge moaner about birthdays) I think of my dad's motto--It's better than the alternative.

    I'm just grateful to be healthy and relatively fit, and able to do the things I want to do.

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    1. I am also grateful for your good health, Debs (and Hank and Hallie and Julia and Roberta and Jenn and Rhys)! We all are, actually...big fan club here!

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    2. Debs, that's exactly what my mother used to say - "Getting old is bad, but it's a lot better than the alternative!"

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  21. I've known for a long time that Deb, Edith & I were born in the same year. And now, Kait, too! I'm proud to be a baby boomer and old hippie! Yes, I am having some aches and pains, but in my mind I'm still lots younger! Welcome to your 60's, Julia!

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  22. You're fine, sixty is nothing. Wait until you hit 70. Sigh. I was born in 1945, so an early Boomer, and I'm fine with that. I just need to get out of my comfy reading chair more often. But then don't we all.

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    1. True, Rick. I think I definitely need to kick it up from "once a day dog walk" to something a little more aerobic.

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  23. Recently read an article about the increase in people living to be 100. Helps put it all in perspective...somewhat.
    I earned my "boomer" label by being born in 1949. College in the 60's (That's so inaccurate. "The 60's" were actually the last few years of the 1960s and the first year or two of the 1970s. Kind of like the Beatles. A short but very impactful era.)

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    1. Libby, I read the fastest growing age group per capita are nonagenarians! Which explains why I personally know four people in their nineties. Not to mention the British royal family, which I suspect is an ongoing experiment in breeding for longevity.

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  24. I'm just a few years ahead of you, Julia -- turned 62 last December. I agree, 60 is a number that feels very odd. To me, I think the really weird thing is thinking and talking about retiring. Trying to decide when to do it, making plans for what I will do after.... there's a big voice in my head that just wonders how any of this can actually apply to me!

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    1. Susan, I noticed a few years ago every dinner party with my friends would involve a long discussion on retirement options. And it was deeply interesting! That was when I realized we were all definitely getting older.

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  25. I'm a Baby Boomer born smack in the middle of those years, 1954. I do have a lot of fondness for the good parts of the 60s, like the Beatles and Barbies and American Bandstand and the Twist and playing outside all day and mini-skirts. The historical parts of my growing up--civil rights, Kennedy's assassination, the Vietnam War, man walking on the moon--were huge events, but I was too young to fully appreciate it all, as I was 6 to 16 during those years. So, being a solid Boomer, I do feel that I was a part of something big, albeit a peripheral part.

    Now, turning 60. The only reason it was of much significance to me is that my older sister died when she was 60, which was shocking. She had cancer, and she'd dealt with it for years on and off, but our family had a history of longevity, and 60 was young. (She was ten years older than I.) So, when I turned 60, I was a bit nervous about making it to 61. I'm 67 now, so, obviously, I did, but it made turning 60 more of a deal than it should have been. I'm not normally too caught up in how old I am. Of course, the age-related bothers I'm having at this point are annoying and at times painful. I do feel so much younger in my mind.

    So, enjoy turning 60, Julia. It's a lovely age to be.

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  26. Born in 1960, not a Boomer. My father didn't fight in WW2--he was born in 1938. My mother was born in 1941, 5 years younger than the Boomers. 1960-1964 is some weird in-between generation....

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    1. Susan, your parents track mine - Dad born in 1936, Mom in 1939. I'm glad to have an age cohort agree with me!

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    2. I’m another Susan born in 1960. I am not a boomer, but part of that group that needs a name. I’m still running 40 miles a week and many people think I am my daughter’s older sister. I am an attorney with my own practice and have never been busier.

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  27. I just turned 68 so I am definitely a boomer. Inside of me, I kind of feel 45. On the outside not so much. My knees are just beginning to bother me. could all my garden beds now be raised 2 feet? I'm now a year older than my mom when she died. How did I get here?
    Yes, why are the boomer years 20 years?

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    1. It's longer than any other "named" generation, too, Suzzy. And there's the oddity of generational positioning of folks like The Other Susan, above, whose mom was just four years shy of being a Boomer herself.

      In fact, given the prevalence of young people marrying right after high school, it's entirely possible there are boomers born in 1945 who gave birth to Boomers in '63 and 64!

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  28. My (little) brother will turn 60 this year, too, a week before Christmas. We are both astonished every time we start reminiscing how different our memories and perspectives were. Of course he was a skinny, long-legged little eight-year old when I got married the first time! And all the female wedding guests wore mini dresses.

    Our next-door neighbor, who turns out to be ten years older than her husband, turned 90 a couple weeks ago. We were gobsmacked when she finally--after 33 years of friendship--admitted her age to me. I'd have said she was no older than her late 70's. For the most part, I think we all look much younger than our grandparents ever did. At almost 70 I look decades younger than a photo of my great grandmother at an age younger than I am now.

    The best advice I ever had was "use it or lose it". Which applies to both body and mind. A good sense of humor makes an even bigger difference, so I think you'll be okay, Julia!

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  29. It's all so arbitrary, subdividing into smaller and smaller age groupings, when the important thing is what we do with each day. My favorite principal grabbed a teaching moment with students who thought his 50th birthday was hilarious, wishing for them that they might be "lucky enough and wise enough" to also live so many years. Extra bit of perspective, LIBERTY'S KIDS taught that the average life expectancy at the Revolution was . . . 35. Hugs and happiness, my friend. <3

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  30. I belong to the Silent Generation. Born in the late 30's. I still have a vague memory of Pearl Harbor. 60? Well, I have a son who is nearing that age. He's not old. He's prime. And I'm not old either. I'm still thinking about what I want to do when I grow up. You know.....when I get time.

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  31. Boomer, definitely (1949). My baby brother turned 64 last year. My youngest kid is 43 and I have only one grandchild. I was a teenager in the time of bra burning and Viet Nam. Now at the age of downsizing. I just came across the first real story I ever wrote. I was a Beatlemaniac, and in the story I married Ringo. I don't feel old until I speak to my mother, who, in dementia, doesn't remember that she has kids. Then, age breathes down my neck.

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  32. I feel the same as I did when I was in my twenties, except fatter and more relaxed. The only time I feel alarmed about my age is when I remember that when my mother was the age I am now, I was 53!

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  33. Sorry, can't relate. Born in 1932, and nothing much happened. A Great Depression? A World War, #2 by definition? The Greatest Generation? Gee, I'll take it. Married with three sons during the '50s, now with four great-grandsons. (It's taking this generation longer to get started.) Everything changes, and some things never change. (Incidentally, my youngest son is now 60. Hold on, Julis--it's going to be okay!). Lenita

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  34. Sorry, Julia, as 75 approaches, your “I’m 60 almost and don’t want to be a boomer” does not touch my heart. Enjoy every day. And keep writing for those of us who graduated from college the year you could ride your bike alone to school for the first time and any number of folks younger and older. Happy birthday!

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  35. Great post, JULIA! I think there’s definitely fuzzy boundaries during the transition years but I also think the labeling of generations is ridiculous. I know a lot of Xers who are more like Boomers, heck, I know Milennials who are more like Boomers and I have a few Boomer friends who might as well be Gen Z. What is our cultural obsession with labels? I feel as if my entire life has been a battle against being defined by society’s arbitrary name tags...um...why, yes, I am Gen X. How did you know? LOL.

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