Which generation are you?

Lots of talk about Baby Boomers...doom and and portending gloom. I'm on the fringe of this generation.

• The Lost Generation 

Those serving in WW I, coined by Gertrude Stein about American writers: Fitzgerald, Hemingway. Came of age during the war.

• The G I Generation (born 1901 or 1929 -  1924 -27, those serving in WW II, 1939 - 1945). Living during the Depression. "Sacrifice for the common good."

• The Silent Generation (children of WW I vets or those too young to serve, born 1925 - 1945). They grew up as the suffocated children of war and depression. For a great PPT, with period photos see: Silent Generation. They came of age just too late to be war heroes and too early to be hippies.

Nanny, foster mother to 200 teen girls
 -who gave me a black doll.
She was wise and good-hearted.

• Baby Boomers (post WW II; 1946 - 1955, or 1966 in Canada.) After the vets came home, there was a population boom. Read The Baby Boomers' Tab. 

• Generation Jones (1954 - 1964) Coined by Jonathon Pontell, in a book by the same name. As in 'Keeping up with the Joneses'. Those with maxed credit cards and incredible debt. The flower children of the 60s were truly in their teens and twenties. They are part of the baby Boom generation.

• Gen X'ers (born between 1965 - 1980) - to the decade following the Vietnam War, 1982 max)  Sandwiched between 80 million baby boomers and 78 million millennials, Gen X has just 46 million members. They were feeling left out and Jeff Gordonier ranted in an essay and book " being heard over the media din about boomers and their offspring, Generation Y, or "millennials" as they're now known, isn't just a challenge, it's annoying. He felt overlooked and underappreciated.

Her stitches were tiny and true

• Generation Y (Late 70s to 2000) or Echo Boomers, The Millennials. Selfless or self-absorbed?

 My grandmother was new to electricity and indoor plumbing. My mother was new to going out to work. Our dads didn't talk much about the war. They didn't provide many role models for the dads of our generation. They were there, but they were emotionally inaccessible. I would predict that PTSD is part of what hurt many families in the past. It is a complex weaving of life experiences.

My generation spear-headed the movement for midwives, giving birth with husbands present. My generation of dads changed diapers, and fed expressed breast milk to their children while we were out taking courses to upgrade, doing volunteer work, night shifts, or networking to keep current.

I was upset, as my generation has helped move us into the age of technology.

VW Beetle!
Me and my bro

My video of JB singing M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E to his granddaughter as we Skyped is a classic way we've learned to integrate it into our lives and use it to our advantage.
My generation of parents uses FB to keep in touch with adult children around the world. With extended family, in-laws and step-in-laws, my kids have learned to 'like' my videos and our photos, with settings geared so that 'friends of friends' can view this digital archive of child development. In this way, grandparents in other countries and climes can check in on grandkids!

My son-in-law got on Skype on my computer so that granddaughter could visit with the other grandmother, when they spent two weeks with us.

I'm proud of our generation. We are eating better, exercising, running marathons (well, not me...!), travelling (ditto!), and making a difference in the world helping support one another, and contributing to society.

Public opinion rarely considers the needs of the next generation or the history of the last. It is frequently hampered by myths and misinformation, by stereotypes and shibboleths, and by an inate resistance to innovation. 

   -Theodore C. Sorensen, presidential advisor, lawyer, and writer (1928-2010) 


What are you proud of in your generation?

Father's Day rolls around

Here is Mom, Dad, my paternal Grandmother and step-grandfather. All of whom are no longer living in this world. I have fond memories of family visits here at the cottage. Grandma lived in England, and went back to her home after emigrating to Canada back in the 30s or 40s. They lived in England in one of those delightful something-upon-avon towns.

With my late father's passing in 2007, these days are a bit peculiar. For those who never knew their birth parents it must be a poignant day. I met my birth mother, she never spoke of my birth father. I have no clues. It makes me understand how the detached feel on Valentine's Day! That said, for me it is a day to look back at the life my adoptive parents created for me.

My father was a totally supportive man, despite losing his father at age 15. It seemed a common problem in those days, as my mother's father died when SHE was 15, the same year, for the same reason.

(On the left is mom's father, who died in 1940.)

Hiding behind his paper at the end of the day, my Dad cooked and cleaned on Saturdays (before it was kewl) when Mom had to work. I have many memories of fishing with Dad (right). I remember one day, we could see the clouds forming, and could see the wall of rain moving towards us from across the lake. It was incredible. We scurried to clean up our fishing gear and high tailed it into the cottage, laughing so hard.

He was a wonderful grandpa, taking Caitlin, and subsequent grandsons, shopping, giving them spare change for the Balacade. Here he is with Caitlin by the lake he loved so much. Caitlin turns the big 30 this year! How time flies.

I attended a Palliative Care Conference last month. One of the workshops featured ways to celebrate loved ones. To that end, I created an iMovie from our family's slides to celebrate my Dad's life. He so loved 'the cottage', as many do. These slides from the 50s, 60s, 70s showing the old days in Toronto, family picnics, the cottage, Muskoka, pets and parties.

Here is Dad raking his beloved Muskoka property, happy as a clam - Mom ever the photographer.


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Celebration of Dad - music by Bev Foster, Warm Breezes, Room217.ca


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Celebration of Life- for Dad's funeral in Feb., 2007. It is one idea for a memorial!