We’ve had a great ride

I’ve got a birthday this weekend.  It’s not one of those Oh Oh birthdays but it is significant.

If you really want to know, lets just say that I’m not a Baby Boomer.

But it has caused me to think about my life and just how lucky I am to have been born when I was – – and lived through the times that I have.

I was born in the time of radio.   I listened to many of the early radio show.  Not the adult shows, but the kid shows like B Bar B Riders, Sergeant Preston and  Straight Arrow.

I remember when I saw my first television set.   We couldn’t afford one, but a neighbor on the block had one and we flocked to that house, to watch the flickering images of the Test Pattern and later wrestling matches and even Howdy Doody.   All the lights in the house had to be off so we could see the image on the screen.

My family and I came across the country before the freeway system.   What a journey.   We had to stop often to fill up the car with gas and water.  We stopped at many of the wayside places to see the giant snake, the Indian tepee or the largest frying pan in the world.

I also got a chance to ride on the train while it still hauled passengers instead of freight.   The white linen tablecloths in the dinning car, the black waiters, even the finger bowls, were all new to me.

But, I also had the opportunity to experience all of the new inventions which made our life easier – – the microwave oven, push button telephones and steel-belted radial tires.

It was the Baby Boomers who opened up society for everyone – – the free speech movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the gay rights movement – – all of them making this a better country in which to live.

The digital revolution hasn’t passed me by completely.  I’ve embraced that part of the revolution that makes my life easier and ignored that part which doesn’t seem to have any significance to me.

I’ve lived longer than I expected and I chalk that all up to Modern Medicine.  I’ve ignored all the latest health fads and concentrated on eating foods I like and depending on my prescription medicine to do the rest.

It’s been a great life and a great time to have lived through.   I enjoyed the best of the Greatest Generation and the accomplishments of the Baby Boomers.

It’s been a great life and a great time to have lived through – – and I look forward to experiencing all that’s still to come.

So, Happy Birthday to me and to all of those my age.    We’ve had a great ride.