New Seniors

Enjoying thoughts of times gone by does focus on what was rather than what is. However, most people don’t live in the past, so an occasional trip back to the “good old days” is a pleasurable diversion. This mental process may also provide a valuable perspective on how to more effectively deal with the problems we all face today.

Over the most recent Memorial Day weekend, several movie networks paid tribute to those who served in the armed forces during WWII. Watching these films made me realize how much they sacrificed in order for us to remain free. Maybe we can take a page from their book and apply it to overcoming the continuing financial crisis facing the country.

If you stop for a moment or two and focus on the carefree days of youth when school was finished and there was nothing to do but play all day long, those wonderful sounds of summer may come to mind. I grew up in the city, so my memories may be different than yours; but the following thoughts are meant to take us back to those easier softer times.

Are schools so worried about being politically correct that they forget about the basics? Do philosophical agendas trump sound education standards? How can we continue to spend so much on an educational system that achieves such poor results? Have we forgotten to prepare students for a successful life?

A number of major food marketers have re-introduced packages from the “good old days” in an effort to stand out from other products on supermarket shelves. And, it appears as if consumers are responding favorably by loading these items into their shopping carts. Is old-time packaging just a fad or a trend beginning to take hold?

It’s been a long 235 years since a group of early American’s risked their livelihoods, their possessions and their very lives when the Founding Fathers signed The Declaration of Independence. These were our first heroes and we learned about their courage through American History lessons beginning in the elementary grades all the way through high school. They put everything on the line for freedom. Have we become so blasé that freedom no longer has the meaning it once had?

Dreams, seeded with a dose of reality begrudgingly gained through life’s experiences, eventually lead to the establishment of goals that drove this man’s life throughout the years. Now, a few months away from my 75th birthday, I can step back and evaluate what I’ve accomplished and what is yet to be achieved.

Most people 65+ remember WWII or heard firsthand about what happened on the home front during those frightful years. While our troops are currently engaged in wars and unrest away from home, there is a battle going on right here in the United States. The battle to get the national debt under control affects not only us it impacts the future of our children, their children and beyond.

Wearing poppies, waving flags, parades, placing flags and wreaths at soldiers’ graves, twenty-one gun salutes followed by hot dogs and ice cream at the local American Legion were all part of the Memorial Day pre-boomers remember as kids. It was a solemn yet celebrative day because we remembered those who died serving our country and rejoiced in the freedom we enjoyed as a result of their sacrifices.

New Seniors well remember when the Russians launched the first satellite, Sputnik, back in the mid-‘50s. It signaled the beginning of the space age. We made some progress with manned space flights but we lagged behind the Soviets and were losing the race. It was President Kennedy’s promise that the United States would land a man on the moon in the next decade that inspired us to this great achievement.