With the flip of a calendar page, we are reminded it’s that time of the year for self-reflection—time to acknowledge the things in our life for which we feel blessed. Yes, I agree, we should always have an awareness of this, but we often lose sight of it.
This year, I took a trip down memory lane, which brought me waaaay back to my youth. I’m a Baby Boomer. For those of you that are not sure what that means, I’m of a generation that was named after the “boom” in birth rates after World War II when soldiers came home from the war and started to raise families.
Having lived through three historical assassinations of key political figures in the 60’s and war protests in the 70’s, I still feel fortunate to have experienced a simpler life before 24/7 access became the norm. We managed to do math without calculators and used the World Book Encyclopedia to research our assignments that we manually typed on onionskin paper. Hey, we got by!
I hope this post helps inspire you to dig into some of your cherished moments in time. Here are some poignant memories that I know I share with fellow boomers:
Witnessing the real-time landing of a real-life Man on the Moon.
Mini skirts that were tastily styled in bright, polyester floral prints.
Making Creepy Crawler bugs in a “Thingmaker Oven.” I can still smell the“Plastic-Goop.”
Pre-mall, Downtown Thursday night shopping strolls.
Eating sandwiches out of the car trunk in the parking lot of Hampton Beach State Park. Wrapped up in aluminum foil, they managed to stay cool.
Spinning atop the red vinyl seats at the soda fountain.
Flipping through newly released 45’s at the record store on Saturdays.
Drive-in movies broadcast via crackling, metal speakers hung from the car window. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World comes to mind.
Pressing my face against the glass panes of the penny candy counter at Sears.
Smelling the paper fresh off the mimeograph machine in elementary school.
Schwinn bicycles with brakes on the pedals (I still have that bike!).
Walking miles to school without any fear. The best feeling, ever!
Wishing you abundant blessings at Thanksgiving,
Sophie
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