Sure seems like there are a couple prominent times in our lives that we reminisce even more than other times.
Maybe it’s just me but when my kids were growing up and driving me crazy I would say something like “I hope your kids are just like you!!” which would devolve into me having a tirade about having only three channels on the television (…and that’s when we weren’t on the roof turning the antenna with my dad yelling out the window, or at the local Rx going through the tube chart to test the bulbs that burn out only to find out there are none available….).
Growing up in San Diego didn’t mean trudging through the tundra mile after mile, but growing up on Jackson Dr. in La Mesa meant walking a mile and a half to the bus stop in the morning for a half hour ride to Crawford HS up off El Cajon Blvd near State College. Or, when in Jr. High, riding my bike over a dirt road now called Navajo Rd. to Allied Gardens about 10 miles away to Lewis Jr. High.
My kids grew up with their mother or me taking them to and from school every day. Home to cable channels, electronic devices, and their “caves”…better known as their sanctuary rooms. Me? I had no such privacy. I had to share a bedroom with my brother until he got drafted. Most baby boomers I know had multiple siblings. Nowadays if couples have more than two kids it raises eyebrows.
So we reminisced then about how simple yet tougher adolescence was to us as opposed to that of our kids. But now the reminiscence is different. We reminisce with our friends now. “Remember Easter Break at the ‘69 Pop (pot) Festival in Palm Springs”? (Many of the rock groups that appeared there, appeared at Woodstock a few months later). Palm Springs was a great venue for left coasters but, you know the East Coast bias, notwithstanding the music, Woodstock got the press because of being in New York, the bad weather, mud and lack of planning. Palm Springs and Tahquitz Canyon was just a fabulous, warm and dry three-day fantasy.
I was writing to a friend today and we realized that we had met thirteen years ago; like a blink of the eye and poof, the time is gone and yet so fast. We reminisce about fateful events of our adolescence. That period in our life was truly short yet looking back and while living it, it felt like an eternity. We reminisce about good and bad times. I like to think I’m making new memories so that when I’m 100 I can reminisce. Heck, how about 125? But, I have to remember my dad passing when he was only 71. Life is way too short sometimes.
You don’t see a U-Haul behind a hearse. It might be time to start adding a few chapters to the book of memories. It’s time now to pin guilt trips on our kids and remind them that they “owe us big time”!! (A little guilt never hurts). I know we’ll think we’ll never have “enough” money but happiness and even generosity is important. After all, generosity is a Yin and Yang thing if you get my drift.
I thought my 13-year friend was in a rut, just working and existing. She’s got a wheelbarrow of money. I told her to surprise her better half with two tickets to Paris reminding her about what they say about Paris in the springtime. She says she loves her work and being home, could retire any time but feels fulfillment and satisfaction with her career. Nothing wrong with that.
I’m approaching the sunset but I still want some cool experiences. Planning something cool raises endorphins and makes you happy. Be Happy. Shake off the binds and blinds. Try to make memories that you can reminisce about when you’re 100!! It will bring you peace and happiness. If you can’t afford it, remind the kids that they owe you — big time!
Afterthought: Think ahead 25 or 30 years from now. Our politicians will all be potheads. John Lennon was right after all. Imagine! Peace.
