"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Surveying the Best Baby Boomer Blogs

     On her blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, Rita R. Robison, consumer journalist, offers various facts and figures to help seniors mark Older Americans Month.

     Yes, May is Older Americans Month. But . . . seniors? Older Americans? What does that have to do with us Baby Boomers?

     Oh yeah, as my daughter likes to remind me, there are a few gray hairs on my head and a few wrinkles creeping across my face. I'm not as facile with smartphone technology as she and her friends are. And she thinks my first language was Latin.*

Americans are living longer, and working longer too
     Or as Rita Robison puts it, "Although Baby Boomers don’t want to be called seniors, some of them are now age 65 and older. Born between 1946 and 1964, this year on their birthdays Boomers will turn between 50 and 68."

     She points out that today there are 43 million Americans over age 65. By the year 2060, that number is estimated to increase to . . . can you guess? (Hint: it's a lot.) Go over to Older Americans Month and see how close you are. In any case, I doubt the estimated number includes me -- I'd have to live well past 100 to be counted in the 2060 census.

     Speaking of our limited lifespan, Amy over at Modern Senior looks at Tikker, a new product scheduled for release next month that counts down the seconds until your death. (Really?!?) But hold on . . . the whole idea is that being aware of your mortality will actually make you happier and more present in the moment. Read more and weigh in with your thoughts at Will the Tikker Death Watch Make You Happier?

     As for me, I don't need to know how long I'm going to live, down to the second. But I do occasionally take those how-long-will-you-live quizzes. There may be some "better" ones out there (the "better" ones being those that estimate I'm going to live longer), but as I mentioned recently in Resources for Seniors, the one from University of Pennsylvania called How Long Will I Live? seems the most reasonable. It asks enough questions so you realize that it's using real data to estimate our life expectancy, without prying into every habit and taking and hour and a half to complete.

     Instead of focusing on when we'll die, Laura Lee Carter at Midlife Crisis Queen concentrates more on why we're here. In her post Have You Found Your Sense of Purpose Yet? she points out that according to new research a sense of purpose can add years to your life. "And according to my own research," she writes, "midlife is the best time to 'find your reason to be here!'"
  
      As for me, I spent the last few days not thinking about blogging. My family was visiting. My sister and her husband, from Phoenix, spent a day in New York City. My kids convened at my house, and then we all went out to dinner at a restaurant . . . where my daughter made her usual jokes about how well I know history because I was personal friends with some of our Founding Fathers. It was a restaurant across the street from the train station, because like many 20-somethings my kids are embarrassed to be seen in the suburbs, and they wanted to flee back to Brooklyn as soon as they possibly could.

     On Saturday we drove out to Jones Beach, on Long Island, where (as I mentioned on facebook) the air temperature was > 70; but the water temperature was < 60. But the point is, we all had a wonderful time. It's great for us older Americans -- I mean us healthy, vibrant Baby Boomers -- to get together with our families, reminisce about old times, and renew bonds with those people we know best. 


* I did study Latin in 7th, 8th and 9th grades, back when America was strong; schools taught readin', writin' and 'rithmetic; and I walked to school through the snow, uphill both ways. But then, my daughter studied Latin too, and persisted longer than I did, through her senior year in high school. I don't know what else Latin is good for, but it does help on your verbal SATs.

** Finally, an invitation to those who have read this far: If you're a Baby Boomer blogger, we do have a space or two open in our group of Best of Boomer Blogs. Want to join up to increase your reach and readership? Shoot me an email at tomsightings@gmail.com if you're interested.

11 comments:

DJan said...

Well, I don't qualify as a Baby Boomer because I was born in 1942, but I read your blog faithfully. I took the life expectancy test and got 90.52 years, which made me happy, since that gives me another two decades, almost. Yay! :-)

stephen Hayes said...

This is all very interesting. A few years back our son had me check out a site that predicted how long I'd live. I didn't like the answer. I don't really want to know how long I'll live. I'd rather be surprised.

Anonymous said...

Well, my mother is 98 with dementia, whereas my dad died at age 87 of cancer. It doesn't matter how long you live. What matters is how well you live.
P.S. I studied Latin for 2 years in high school. And I still didn't amount to much!

Anonymous said...

I will probably die before this awful term dies. What is a boomer anyway? My kids are all turning 50...2 of my 3 now over 50. My baby brother,, born in 1947, at the other end of the spectrum is 67. They have nothing in common! well almost nothing! The oldest were considered part of the War baby crowd until some smarty pants ( one of my profs and former bosses) coined the term.

As for keeping up...that is definitely not my style anymore. I am fairly computer literate, but using a smart phone takes far fewer brains than actual programming of main frames back in the Stone Age. In my book, kids have a long way to go to catch up to those who actually know how to spell. Dianne

Cathy said...

How do you know you're getting older - when your children become Baby Boomers lol
We are supposedly the Silent Ones but without us they wouldn't have half of what they have.

So as long as I wake each morning I'm not bothering about how long I'm going to live. Intend to live love and laugh each day I've got left - oh and travel as well!

Take care
Cathy

Olga said...

et tu, filia?

Anonymous said...

Our only is 37 the end of the year, you would think we were dinasours or something, she spends like she is a kennedy or related to Trump, lives in NYC travels for her company they pay for everything..she has no mate, husband, kids only a doted on kitty cat..She enjoys being free as she says..we have a paid for home, live where is about 200 days of inclement weather then the sun comes out white hot and humid and scorches us..we pay our taxes, reycle everything,I cook or my hubs daily, we go to the coast with childhood friends and to the wine country to see childhood friends, many told us to work til 66 fat chance of that, my hubs job made sure he would be harassed and he retired, most of the men and women died after they retired, he noticed this after retirement party at the union place, no way did he want that fate, me I work for a non profit to feed and house people I see what the divide in this country is and it is terrible, I want to help be the solution, we feel blessed, we see how others deal with being retired and all..we want some sunshine but no place is really better than another, Seattle is exorbitant but has an excellent rail.bus. and medical facilities, one cannot live in the city, too expensive the burbs are for those fortunate souls who bought years ago and paid off their mtg. and have two pensions we are okay, we don't want much, just some sunshine..but one cannot have heaven on earth can one??? ciao!

Rosaria Williams said...

You do know our parents never retired. They worked until they died. Retirement is a new invention; just like adolescence became a new invention when we made compulsory education all the way to eighteen...
And since most of us want our children to compete well, we have extended their dependence even longer...
Soon, we'll all be living under one roof again from birth to death.

gabbygeezer said...

1/ A few years of exposure to Latin also is useful when working crossword puzzles.

Barbara said...

For me, focusing on age makes you older than you should be. I had friends who were ready to get their rockers going at 40.

The way to stay relevant and not become an old fart is to learn something new as often as you can. If you don't stay up with technology you will forever be behind. My husband finally admitted I was right about that!

I have always believed it's a state of mind. I still do.
b

Barbara Largo said...

I agree with comments above, you are only as old as you feel and act. You brought back some wonderful childhood memories of walking along Jones Beach in the summertime. I also remember going to concerts there as a teen.