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Sunday, February 3, 2013

And the next thing I knew - Day 3 topic of the 30M2D Writing Challenge

The 30M2D writing challenge topic is "And the next thing I knew"  I really do take this creative writing thing seriously *coughs suspiciously* but somehow I get distracted and I branch off into unknown realms.  I swear  it really is unintended.  Link to the others, following Nicky and Mike (the WWFC hosts of this challenge), like lemmings over a cliff - weworkforcheese.

1959 - the year I was born.  While it was not all innocence and wonder in the real world, I lived a sheltered drama-free life.

The sixties brought great music and civil rights turmoil.  I clomped through time wearing my cateye glasses and wishing my parents would let me have a dog, or a horse.

The seventies ushered in bad fashion and the height of the first (and only) televised war in Viet Nam.  I didn't understand why there were protests against our own soldiers.

My recollection of the eighties was permed hair, the Cosby Show and Madonna.  Wish I could remember more of that decade - but I don't.

By the nineties, I was a parent and my world revolved around raising my children.  There were soccer games and Little League playoffs.  I wore my mom jeans.  Jobs were plentiful and money was rolling in.

Fast forward to 2013 - at lunch with an dear friend who is my same age, I asked her, "Did you ever think your life would be like this in your 50s?"  Her response was an emphatic "No."  Her background is in the art realm and once owned a successful gallery.  She is now a state worker.

I can speak for women in the 50+ range, all through our careers we were valued, sought after - jobs were there for the taking.  Now?  We are lucky to even have a job, let alone one with benefits, and the benefits have been reduced.  Some of my friends are married to husbands older (or much older) than themselves and rather being able to look forward to retiring and traveling with their partner, they face years of continued work mainly for the continuation of medical benefits.

So where am I headed with this Debbie Downer post?  It all comes down to - the next thing you know, you are 50 years old and the only thing constant is change.

16 comments:

  1. Time flies when you're having fun, eh?

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  2. I still wear mom jeans...am I stuck in the 90's?

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    1. If you wear them long enough, they cycle back in style!

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  3. I better enjoy my 20s while I can, then. ;)

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  4. You pegged it, Tami. It's the medical benefits that are going to keep me underemployed long after I should retire. As for your friend who's working for the state... my alternative retirement plan is making license plates in jail. At least then I know I'll get 3 meals a day and health care!

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  5. I was born in 57 and my memories are completely different from yours in many ways. I don't ever recall jobs being available for all women and that glass ceiling we fought so hard to crash through in the 70s and 80s is still firmly in place.

    We'll all be working a couple of years longer than we expected but then again, part of the 80s was the beginning of the dire forecasts that Medicare and Social Security benefits wouldn't even be there for the boomers. The first wave of boomers have retired and receiving those benefits so I'm less frightened than I was 30 years ago.

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    1. I have worked in the legal industry for many, many years and those jobs seemed to be always available and recession-proof ... until now.

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  6. I hope it takes a little longer for me to get to my 50s. ;)

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  7. Hey, I was also born in 1959. Is there any chance we're twins separated at birth because mom couldn't afford to raise two children? I feel a certain connection with you that can't be explained any other way. Except possibly by mental illness or alcoholism. Maybe I should stop drinking, I don't know.

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  8. Wow this really touched me. It is how I seem to be feeling today... at 46. Very beautifully written.

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  9. Been there. Done that. So true. Depressing, but true.

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  10. That final line caps it all so beautifully. Actually, the whole entry really struck a chord for me. Well done.

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  11. Well done. Wow...I am feeling like the grandmother to All your readers. It is scary and depressing.

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