monique

Woolgathering
2004-08-25 14:46:18 (UTC)

A Little Visit, A Short Trip and More

After work, John and I went to see his father in the nursing
home again. He's obviously homesick and is hoping to go
home by the end of the week. I suspect it's more likely
it'll be early next week but I didn't tell him so. I
brought him a slice of blueberry pie which he seemed to
appreciate and I playfully shook my finger at him and told
him he'd have to eat his dinner first. He laughed.

We had planned to run errands in Eugene but John forgot to
bring his list and coupons that he needed so it was cut
short. We did go to Jerry's home supplies for some things.
I knew we'd be going there and also knew I wouldn't want to
go in so I'd come prepared with my knitting. There were
some clouds but the sun was out and it was warm and sitting
in the van with the windows rolled down, knitting while John
shopped, was quite pleasant.0 We took a quick trip to Costco
and bought some large items--cat food and laundry detergent
among them-- and then went home by Coburg road, something we
hadn't done in quite a long time.
**************
On one of our visits last week, when we saw John's mother,
she asked how my Dad was. I told her he was mentally sharp
and pretty healthy physically and kept himself occupied.
He'll be 82 next month. She said that after Grandma died
Grandpa would talk about her and would cry but John said
that my Dad was a very private man and while we didn't know
what he did when he was alone, he wasn't the type to cry in
front of us. I added that even so I could still see a great
deal of sadness in his face, especially in his eyes.
***************
I wrote an email to David Broder this morning. He's a
columnist for the Washington Times and I was writing to him
regarding his column "Swift Boats and Old Wounds". He said
that the baby boomers were now the ones in power but they
were divided into two camps, ending his column with the
statement that there would soon be an end to it when the new
generation took over as "the Boomers were now in their
60's". Their 60's! Not quite, Mr. Broder! Most are a
decade younger and many are in their 40's. The baby boomer
generation is usually defined as those born between 1946 and
1964 which puts the age range at 40-58 years old. We're not
all old doddering geezers yet although we're getting there.

It's my personal impression that it's the younger baby
boomers, those who can barely remember JFK's assassination
and who watched their older brothers and sisters dealing
with everything that happened in the late 1960's but who had
to stand on the sidelines as they were still in elementary
school or middle school, who are the most rabid ones of all.
Those of us who are a bit older, who fought in Vietnam (or
loved someone who did) or who tried to go to their
university classes when there were demonstrations and riots
going on, who have mellowed out a bit. The split, however,
was apparent even in the 1960's. There were the long haired
Students for a Democratic Society in tie-dyed tee shirts and
torn jeans calling for revolution while the crewcut Young
Americans for Freedom were in suits and ties, waving the flag.

He's right, of course, that another generation will come to
power --it always does--but it may take a little bit longer
than he thinks.




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