What I've noticed since finding this website, is that MANY people on here are baby boomers like me. When did it become 'normal' (or maybe it's just me) to worry about other boomers dropping dead when they live alone? Take my neighbor for instance, he's been widowed for 3 years maybe and REALLY close to my age. I was asking my husband last night, how would I know if he fell and broke his face or something and needed 911? I think about myself even though I'm in pretty good health for a boomer, I'm alone every other day while my hubby is away working. What if he came home and found me dead in our bed? When did THAT become normal to think about?? When did it become 'normal' (or maybe it's just me) to worry about other boomers dropping dead when they live alone? I think about my sister-in-law who's barely younger then me, alone while my brother-in-law is gone for a week at a time. What about her dropping dead alone in her house? Oh my gosh, when did this happen? When did I get so old to have to think of this stuff? Who on earth thought of this stuff when they were in their 20's? Well anyway I was just wondering if anyone else besides me have these random weird thoughts. I tell ya, getting old is NOT for sissies.
Beside, what can you do it if it IS "your time" to keel over dead? What I fear most is being half-dead. A maiming injury or stroke...
With all the other worries in our lives, I don't worry about my own death. I'm doing all I can to prevent that, and if that's not enough, I can't worry any more once I'm dead, can I?
..Getting back to worrying about the icky "surprises" I find in their laundry... I'm fine.
When I think of the bizillion things I have to remember for myself, Mom, and my work....forgetting that my glasses are on my head doesn't seem so bad.
But I have to agree, I'd rather go out with a bang than a whimper.....
I can't speak about boomers everywhere, but the ones I work with avoid discussions about planning for their demise, let alone much long-term planning. Sandra once told me "I set out to heal the world, and leave something for the children I was supposed to have. ... Now all I have is this job. No man, no savings, no kids, not even a place to drop dead. I did nothing."
I guess all this baby boomer talk became "normal" a couple of years ago, when I signed up for all kinds of forums on how to manage aging and end-of-life issues as we age. One thing I learned is that most Baby Boomers were among the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve -- and did something about it --, but are generally in a state of denial regarding their own aging and death. To make things worse, they are leaving an undue economic burden on their children for their retirement and care. Although many tended to think of themselves as a special generation, this group, in my opinion, is a mere microcosm of what's happened and continues to happen in Aging America when you don't plan for the future.
It took me a while to actually sit down and plan the rest of my life. Before that I used to say "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery," "Don't worry about the years, they come and go as they please," "What matters is the here and now." The sad part is that it took a car crash that left me comatose for 2 months for me to get my life together. I'm 51, own my home, have a couple of nest eggs that I don't touch at all, made sure my sons got a college education, and stay away from golddiggers. In a nutshell, I'm a very lucky man in a world where poverty and homelessness lurk around the corner.
From a governmental standpoint, I guess Baby Boomers were supposed to make the world a better place but instead are slowly becoming a burden to taxpayers and everybody else. Which probably explains why Sandra has that long face of disappointment M-F. ... Instead of fighting, she keeps hopping from unemployment, to the PA office, to "greener pastures" in the hopes her lot will improve. What she doesn't want to understand is that in order to rise above her problems and have an impact in someone else's life she must have the willingness to get better instead of trying getting over and expecting fame and fortune to fall on her lap.
Nancy, I don't care if you're a Baby Boomer. Your posts help me keep it real, and laugh when I need the spark for the fire that is my day. Meeting you in this forum has been a complete privilege because it reminds me of how priceless honesty can be in a world that demands it but doesn't know what to do with it when you give it to them. I don't know about anybody else here, but you sure have made a big difference in my life. Thank you so much.
-- Ed
I have to disagree with one point. We are not a burden on the taxpayers. That is a myth started by generations that came after us. We worked hard, paid into the system, and now the system is pulling the rug out from under us only because we are great in number. They keep moving back the official retirement age, reducing SS and Medicare benefits. In addition, we are the first "sandwich" generation. Many of our fellow forum members are taking care of aging parents (because we get NO help from a government structure that our parents paid into), raising children and putting them through college, and sometimes even taking care of grandchildren. Young adults continue to move back home and freeload off their parents. That does not sound like a group that is bleeding the system. If anything we are giving the government free labor and shortening our lives while we are doing it.
I say that if you paid your way all your life, paid your taxes and contributed to the welfare of all citizens, then when you need help, it should be there. If younger generations are bummed out that they have to take care of their aging boomer parents, then they need to pitch in and lend their voices to change.
I guess I am tired of hearing that the boomers are spoiling everything for the next generation. We live in a youth-worshipping era (that probably started in the '60s). But if we do not work together for change, history is doomed to repeat itself......just sayin'
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