Baby Boomer Guide to Living

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.


I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things. Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect. I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

May God continue to grant all us baby boomers the ability to laugh at ourselves and live a
remaining full life.

Revisit your youth and dance once again to the 60s.

Baby Boomers, Enjoy George Carlin's Take on Aging

As a baby boomer who grew up in the 60s, I chuckle on how humorous but true George Carlin's Views on Aging are. Only George Carlin can look at something so simple and typical and make it funny but meaningful.

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life. . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony... YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour.r.r. r-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!" May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them."

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, and hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

To Everybody Who Is Reading This Remember One Thing: We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

I received an email a couple of days ago asking me if this person could use a few pages of my 60s website to write a book. He was primarily interested in my 1960s movie page and the information and images I have on drive-in movies.

Bob is writing an book about he and his buddies adventures during the 1960s. I would be very interested in reading his book when he completes it. He is doing exactly what I have wanted to do for some time and that is to write a book on my growing up during the 1960s era which included a tour of duty in Vietnam but more importantly the adventures and innocent mischief my friends and I had during this era.

I know many of you have seen the movies American Grafitti and More American Grafitti which of course was released during the mid 70s but dipicted the 1960s growing up of several characters. I guess after seeing those movies I have always wanted to write my memoirs. I have never gotten around doing it and at this late stage, probably won't so I envy Bob for doing what I have always wanted to do.

My buddies and my exploits could probably fill a book plus a follow-up. Of course all our actions never resulted in violence (maybe a few fights now and then) but always we remained friends.

It seems like the friends we have today are really not as tight as the friends we had when we were kids.

I made a visit to my home town to a funeral last year and ran into some of my childhood friends and all we did was reflect on our youth and the fun we had then. Do you think perhaps most of us our youth? I hadn't seen many of these people in over 25 years. No contact what so ever but they are constantly in my thoughts and as I am sure in theirs. We seem like we never have the time to pick up the phone and make a call to those that meant so much to us when we were young. These friends had a major impact on who we are today.

I guess that is why I built my 60s website. It is just a way to escape the hoopla of the times we live in today. Nothing wrong with that as long as you don't get lost in the 1960s. Getting lost in the 1960s can't be all that bad can it?