We just recently moved, and although we are not in an official retirement community, everyone around us has gray hair as do we. We moved in during the pandemic so met very few neighbors but are now meeting them as we garden or walk around the neighborhood. I have noticed that the primary object of any initial conversation or meeting is to find out who we used to be. No one asks, ‘what are you doing now.’ And we wonder why the upcoming generations have so little interest in our views. We are permanently ensconced in a time that is long gone --- the time of ‘Who We Used To Be.’
Perhaps we need to think more of who we are now and what we can contribute rather than dwelling on a time when prices were lower, and life, we feel, was generally better. We still have lots of miles left in us, although we may be traversing those miles at a slower pace. There is time to read more books and think about them. There is time to garden, time to appreciate family, time to work at community service. There is time to write, or quilt or paint or fish.
What time has given us is the luxury of the long view which allows us to see things in a way that can help give a better focus to the current situation. And as the past reflects on the present, we need to remember that things may not be generally better or worse. They may just be different. After all, I can remember our first home which we bought over a half century ago with an 81/2% mortgage rate. However, we did not have cable or cell phone bills and got along on one car as only one of us was working full time. How that balances outI do not know, but it is worth thinking about.
One thing I do know, is that no one now can ask as a first question at a job interview what was asked of me in 1965 --- ‘What form of birth control are you using?’ I can still feel the flush on my face and the stutter with which I answered. Yes, some things are definitely better.