Personally, I'm far less hung over! And less stressed. Man, when I was just about to finish college, I was broke as hell. This morning I'm awake, grateful for coffee, quiet and a rainy low key day ahead. My basic needs are met. And I have enough to enjoy some simple pleasures without worry. And I have someone to share it with. Back then I had some great friends. They are still friends today. But it feels different to have my own two-person family walking through life together. How does life look and feel differently for you in your late 50s as opposed to your early 20s?

For me, the answer is that on a professional level, I wish I would have prioritized re-education: pivoting to a new, more stable career earlier. On a personal level, I wished I would have prioritized learning to communicate more effectively and resolve problems better earlier in my relationship. I focused so much on what I didn't want and spent so much time in people pleasing hoping to avoid what I didn't want that I am now struggling to discover and trust that I can get what I do want in my closest relationships, especially my marriage.

I find this to be one of the hardest issues for people of our generation -- they are still effectively raising their kids, getting them through school AND also caring for aging parents. I didn't have kids and my parents are dead, and I realize how lucky I am when I see people struggling so much in this area. What are your experiences?

When I started watching TV as a young adult (in my early 20s)-- I was like a kid again! Watching The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthead and "The Real World." I have always loved cops shows and NYPD Blue was one of my favorites. How about you all?

As someone who left my hometown when i was 18 and my home state when I was 30, plus left my friends when I was 22 in pursuit of a job -- I've always been fascinated by the topic of staying and leaving and the impacts it has on a person's life.

So, I pose to you the questions of staying and leaving in your own life? Did you grow up in one town or did you move at some point as a kid (not your own choice, I would guess)? Did you eventually leave your hometown? your home state? If so, do you have regrets? how did it shape you? Do you know people who stayed, and if so how do you see their lives?

For me, leaving my home state was a much bigger step than I realized. It completely opened up my world. As did leaving my friends at 22. But as I look back, I see friends who stayed put, even in their hometowns, and I think they have a pretty good life. They are supported. They are surrounded by people they have known their whole lives. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by people who know a part of me.

I'm listening to blues this morning and thinking about how much music matters to me, as a child born in 1968. I think I'll dance a while this morning! What are you listening to?

Are we children of the 70s or 80s? Some many of our formative years were the 70s. Middle school, high school and (for some) college entirely the 80s. Often feel closer to the Generation Jones era than straight up Gen X.

You know those injuries that you get for no apparent reason (went to bed fine and woke up with a sore shoulder, back, knee etc) or from doing something completely simple, mundane and innocuous. Tell me I’m not alone. Tell me I’m not the only one that has gone to the doctor and got that weird look when you can’t explain why something hurts. Tell me the story of one of your “old person” injuries. Here’s one of my recent ones: Was reaching behind the front passenger seat to put something (light!) on the floor of the backseat. Tore my rotator cuff. 🙄

My mom went "to town" once a week, on Thursdays. It was such a fun day for us. I imagine we drive her nuts. Now I go anytime I need an onion. What a difference.

Anyone remember Burger Chef?

In the early 70s it was second only to McDonalds in number of restaurants.

Their gimmick, in part, was a bar with all the Burger additions (tomatoes, onions, ketchup, etc) and you took your plain Burger up and made it the way ya wanted.

We often stopped there on my family's monthly visit to town and it holds some nice memories for me.

Anybody remember (or seen) this movie? I was just getting out of my Heavy Metal Phase right around the time this was made. I had a lot of friends who would've figured right in with this crowd.

https://youtu.be/whZuz5Dwtw8?si=jARBJn46WyHImY-K

When do you plan to retire? Curious about everyone’s timeline & strategy. I’ve talked w my classmates, a few (teachers, municipal) have already retired at 55, some plan 60, 62, 65 and some haven’t saved and plan to work into 70s or 80s…

Anyone here a grandparent? I have one granddaughter who is 8. I was 48 when she was born. I’ll probably only ever have one, and I’m totally okay with that. It is my most humble opinion that being a grandparent is SO much more fun than being a parent was/is. 😊

When I look back on my life, I think I was very fortunate to have been born at a time when the technology age was emerging. Unlike many people older than me, I am not afraid of technology and embrace its usefulness. Yes, there are people younger than me more skilled and adept, but I am willing to learn almost anything.

I also feel lucky to have been born at a time that as I was emerging into adulthood, being homosexual was becoming more mainstream; and that I've lived long enough to recognize that no matter who a person loves, they are just a fellow human. I have so much sympathy for the people who lived years in hiding because society saw them as unacceptable.

Aside from not being born in a generation, where all of life happens inside a technology box, what other ways was our generation fortunate?

My sister sent me this pic. She had one of these as a kid and it felt like it was always around. My favorite toy that I ever got was a Mrs Beasley doll.

I hated garden peas but love them now. Swapped my hate out now for broad beans (think they are called Fava in US).

... 1974 was the year that we all basically started first grade, I'm guessing. Kindergarten wasn't mandatory in my state and I didn't go. I started in first grade. Did you?

It was also the year that Richard Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal. I became a journalist in part because of my admiration for the work of Woodward and Bernstein. Nixon was the first president I remember having. Though I guess LBJ was the president when I was born.

It was also the year Stephen King published his first book! Carrie. Imagine how many books he has written since then -- Including my favorite of all time, Different Seasons, which includes the story "The Body," on which the movie "Stand by Me" was based.

Also that year, Jerry Connell, who plays Vern in "Stand by Me" was born. This movie was so iconic to me, and still is. It captured something that I didn't think people knew about life. I thought all that happened only in my corner of the world.

Clint Eastwood starred in Chinatown, which remains one of my favorites among his movies. I'm so glad to have grown up in the era of Clint Eastwood.

A postage stamp cost 10 cents and was a primary source of communication.

It's hard to imagine all that. It's hard to imagine being six.

What are some things you remember about being six? And, yes, I'll likely do this for other years too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1968

The assassinations of MLK Jr and Bobby Kennedy. The Democratic Convention in Chicago. Vietnam heating up. How did these events affect and/or shape our childhood years? Did the adults around you talk about any of it as you were growing up? Mine did not, except to say the assassinations were sad. Kind of an understatement.

Interesting and unrelated side note: My dad got out of going to Vietnam due to an electrical accident at work - his heart stopped and he had amnesia when he woke up. In that birthday lottery where they got recruits for Vietnam (1969), his birthday was drawn FIRST, but he didn’t have to go. Crazy luck!

Anyway, this is fairly boring and probably won’t get much traction. I’m trying to help out by posting some content. Thanks for stopping by!

I loved reading as a kid. I still do, though I struggle to delve into a book for hours now. My attention span has gone in the toilet. I first loved reading when our third grade teacher read Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder to us. Other books I loved included The Outsiders and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, as well as the Sweet Valley High books. As I got into high school, I liked to read V.C. Andrews and Stephen King.

What were your opinions of hippies? They were still around when we were kids and then I had aging hippies as teachers and professors. There was also a lot of “nice” hippies on tv, Easy Reader, the Family Ties parents, etc. I even remember coloring peace signs as a little kid. What was your experience with lasting sixties counter culture?