Last year about this time, the first Baby Boomer turned 65. If you count the beginning of the baby boom from the first babies born following the end of World War II in Europe, VE Day, Celebrated on May 7th or 8th, depending on where you are, then the babies born approximately 9 months later, beginning in January or February of 1946 began what would come to be called the “Post-War Baby Boom”.  That Boom might be considered to be the result of the euphoria and prosperity that was ignited following the victory of the free world over tyranny.  It also might properly be considered to have ended with the day in 1963, November 22, that President John F. Kennedy was shot, as that changed the optimism that characterized the American spirit.

Nonetheless, the euphoria and hope, progress and prosperity, lasted for 17 years. Babies born during that time grew up in a world of unprecedented security. Many of these children started life very poor, in houses that did not have indoor toilets, but, by the time they reached their teen years their fathers, thanks in great part to the GI Bill, had gotten better educations, great jobs, and they were able to move up and out to the suburbs to homes with, not only plumbing, but separate bedrooms for each child and in addition to a living room, a den, dining room and modern kitchen and a backyard patio, and, more and more frequently, their own in-ground swimming pool–something to which only the extremely wealthy had had access in the past.

The youngest of the Baby Boomers, those born in the 60’s, more than likely did not know the poverty that their older siblings had experienced, and took for granted the luxury in which they were born. By the time they reached some degree of self-awareness the cynicism which visited upon the American populace following the assasinations of, not only John F. Kennedy, but also Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. had begun to settle upon the land.

So, where am I going with this. I was actually thinking of this as a gift to Baby Boomers, being one myself. And, in spite of the fact that some of other generations blame Boomers for the ills of the planet, we are all in this together and no one generation deserves more blame, or more credit, than another. Many of the goods of the planet are also due to to work of Baby Boomers.  We all need to work together to make the future more secure for all.

I read a very hateful post a few days ago in a letter to one of the newspapers online.  It went something like, “We (the speaker was a self-described millenial) are being buried in old people”…as though the elderly and the aging are the enemy. If we are lucky, all of us will be old some day. It behooves us to respect the wisdom of age. My sister’s grandchild, now just 2 years and 3 months old, loves her grandmother dearly. I was speaking with her and her mom on Skype the other day and she said, “but, where’s grandma?”, since, when she usually Skypes it is to her grandmother, not to me. We owe much to the generations that have preceeded us. Had it not been for the fact that my sister was such a good mother, her granddaughter would not have such a good mother and would not be the happy, secure child she is today.

So, as a tribute to my sister and my own mother, I write this. My sister’s birthday is today. The second anniversary of my mother’s death was yesterday. In her memory I remember the good things that she and all the neighbors of her generation taught me. I remember my grandmother, also, and all her good friends who lost so many of their children to early deaths, and how they struggled to keep their families alive, in the days before good sanitation and decent medical care. I salute and praise them all and hope that younger generations will remember ours also kindly.