Reflections on Baby Boomers

A few nights ago four of us were around the table after dinner shooting the breeze. We got to talking about singers and broadway show music from the 1950s --- music I never had much interest in. It made me reflect on the great differences from those who were teenagers in the 1950s and those who came of age in the 1960s.

1967’s “Summer of Love”, along with the increasing opposition to the Vietnam War, really made a huge difference in peoples’ life styles. Young blog readers, and some contemporaries, might not realize or have forgotten what a big deal these events were. Those who graduated from college before “65 tended to go the traditional route of getting “straight” jobs, getting married in their twenties, and settling down, while many from the class of ’68 and later were much less likely to immediately seek a career and start a family. Many pursued alternative life styles, becoming carpenters, instrument makers, musicians, concert promoters, community organizers, farmers, alternative manufacturers, perpetual travelers or just dropping out all together by joining a commune or religious cult or whatever. 

My wife Terry and I are on the cusp of the Baby Boomer Generation, one on each side (Dale’s birthday - Nov 30, 1944. Signing of Japanese Surrender Document - Sept 2, 1945. Terry’s birthday - Feb 2, 1946).

We fell solidly in the second group. We took drugs, let our hair grow and married in our mid thirties. After college I went into the Peace Corps, spent six months hitching around Europe, and became a musician and later part owner of a music store, continuing to play and teach. Terry kicked around for six years between college and law school, some of the time living in a communal house in Berkeley and traveling to Europe and Mexico for extended periods. Then she took up immigration law. 

Dale in the Peace Corps - 1968 and Terry (Center Front) with Roommates - Berkeley early '70s

Okay, I realize I’m oversimplifying, but I stand by my theory. I’ll also add that these differences seem much less important as you get older, and some of the older values like politeness, dressing nicely, and enjoying Broadway shows and Opera, have, hopefully, brought me somewhat into the “traditional” camp.

On the medical front, I’m back home in the middle of my second chemo go round. I’m feeling pretty peppy, probably due to the prednisone. The doctors are still not 100% sure what the issue is in my lungs, but the mysterious lung spots got smaller in between scans, so the chance of them being lymphoma are evidently VERY small now.

We had a very good discussion with a nutritionist who stressed taking in protein, calories and things that would slow digestion down like nut butters and pectin, and avoiding roughage including things you might not think of like bread crust and brown rice. I’m managing to continue to gain weight and and I’m now at 132 from a low of 119. “Fighting weight” = 155 to 160.