Building Adult Ministries, Leadership for Adults Over 50

We are survivors!

Consider the changes we have witnessed:

We were born before television, before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, plastic, contact lenses, Frisbees, and the pill.

We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ballpoint pens; before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air-conditioners, drip-dry clothes—and before anyone walked on the moon.

We got married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be?

In our time, closets were for clothes, not for “coming out of.” Bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens. Designer jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along well with our cousins.

We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and outerspace was the back of the Riviera Theatre.

We were before—house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers, and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy, and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, CD players, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness—not computers or condominiums; a “chip” meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware, and software wasn’t even a word!

In 1940, “made in Japan” meant junk and the term “making out” referred to how you did on your exam. Pizzas, McDonald’s, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We hit the scene when there were 5- and 10-cent stores, where you bought things for five and ten cents. Ice cream cones sold for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a streetcar, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi, or enough stamps to mail one letter and two post cards. You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, but who could afford one? A pity, too, for gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In our day, GRASS was mowed. COKE was a cold drink, and POT was something you cooked in. Rock music was grandma’s lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the principal’s office.

We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was discovered, but were surely before the sex change. We made do with what we had. And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby!

No wonder we are so confused and that there is such a generation gap today!

But we survived! What better reason to celebrate?