GRANNY

The wrinkled old woman sits with gnarled fingers pensively entwined in her lap. An empty maple rocker rests in a sunny corner of the farmhouse kitchen — waiting for new generations of babies to comfort

Granny rests her weary body in the big, soft chair purchased by her children. It was their 80th birthday gift for all the years she had fetched and carried, cooked and cleaned for them.

Seemingly at rest, her mind is busy with thoughts of the past. She doesn’t notice bright sunlight glinting through the old oak tree, bathing violets with life giving light on the window sill.

Instead she sees pictures in her mind, like a slide show of the past:

–Five children clamoring for food around the dinner table.

–Husband John, stamping snow and ice off his boots in the rear entry.

–The stormy spring night the old cow needed help birthing her calf.

–Sewing children’s clothes on the old treadle sewing machine.

–Son Bill, proud in his uniform before he went to war – never to return.

Her eyes drift shut on memories of what once was – but will never be again. Where have they all gone? Why is she here all alone? Now that she has plenty of time for rest, why doesn’t she ever feel rested?

She did not realize when it was happening how precious it was. Mostly she felt tired, sometimes irritable, often overwhelmed. The children’s laughter sustained her then; the yearly process of new life, new growth gave her hope and joy.

Now memories are what sustain her - for she has outlived them all.

92 years old tomorrow; still living on her own. Perhaps the great grandchildren will come. Her eyes drift closed…. sleep overtakes her. But the memories will never stop. They fill her dreams, waking and sleeping.

Memories keep her alive.

The American government and many citizens tremble at the thought of  “seniority” coming to baby boomers who originally appeared on the world stage after WWII. As the former military personnel came home to  assume their peacetime identities, there seemed to be a concerted effort to make up for lost time. Tteir effort resulted in the Baby Boom; which may have included replacing the multitudes of American men and women who lost their lives in the war,

Baby boomer is a North American-English term to describe a person born between 1946 and 1965.^[1][2] Following World War II, these countries experienced an unusual spike in birth rates, a phenomenon commonly known as the baby boom. (SeeWikipedia, Baby Boom)

Many of us here don’t actually fit the ‘boomer’ generation, having been born earlier. I personally missed it by about 5-10 years. But the effects of the boom will definitely be felt by us as increasing demands are placed upon governmental programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

That is a topic for another blog.   The area I would like to discuss is the effects of seniority/retirement of the baby boomers to positively affect the American culture.   Since many of this generation experienced and participated in the 50’s and 60’s,  their upbringing was very different from ours.  The cultural revolution during the 50’s and 60’s changed North American society completely.

Better educated, more world wise, with a higher sense of gender and racial issues, these boomers will play an increasingly important role in government, politics, education, social programs, economics.

We can see this today in the presidential primaries, where a woman and a black man are battling for nomination on the Democratic side.   After all, when John Kennedy was elected president it was considered revolutionary that a Catholic got the nod.   Now gender and race are being eliminated as blocks to the White House.   The Republican candidate is 72 years old; he has crossed the previous age barrier.

Many of those working and voting in these campaigns are in their late 40’s through their 50’s.  Are they impatient with the current state of malaise in our society?   Whatever the case may be, our country is ready for change and these emerging baby boomers will be a very large part of it.

It will be interesting for us more elderly retirees to view just what occurs when the Boomers take center stage in  the United States.

THE COMPUTER SWALLOWED GRANDMA

The computer swallowed grandma.
Yes, honestly its true!
She pressed ‘control’ and ‘enter’
And disappeared from view.

It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.

I’ve searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I’ve even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found ‘online.’

So, if inside your ‘Inbox,’
My Grandma you should see,
Please ‘Copy,”Scan’ and ‘Paste’ her
And send her back to me.