BIRTHDAY

Today is my 87th birthday. I’ll celebrate twice–tonight Ken will take me out for supper. When our family’s schedules mesh, we will have a celebratory supper at the China Palace in Rockton followed by birthday cake at our house.

I am part of what has been termed the Silent Generation. Those of us born during the 1930s are sandwiched between the Greatest Generation that fought World War II and their children, the Baby Boomers. We are the smallest group born in the 20th Century according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only 24.4 million live births were recorded during The Great Depression compared to 31.7 million in the 1940s and 40.3 million in the 1950s.

During the fifties, 96 percent of our women married at younger ages and became mothers. Only 7 percent remained childless, the lowest proportion of any generation in American history.

The sixties became known as a time for ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’, but I was busy washing cloth diapers, providing 2 a.m. feedings and singing lullabies. Linda, Lisa and Kurt were born in 1960, 1961 and 1963.

At the same time, despite the TV depictions of Mom at home such as Ozzie and Harriett Nelson, availability of The Pill revolutionized female lives by giving us reliable birth control. We are the first generation of women to be employed in large numbers outside the house. Sadly, this new independence contributed to more than a quarter of our marriages ending in divorce.

Today, there are an estimated 7 to 8 million of us still living–the old, old compared to the young old. Strong ancestors, healthy eating, exercise and medical care have brought us this far. We give physical and mental impairments a nod and climb molehills instead of mountains. Yet, we must not abdicate, but continue to speak for ourselves and form partnerships with the generations following us.

How are you handling growing older?