25 Comments

It makes me wonder whether every generation looks back on its youth in disbelief...Or, whether there really is a kind of demographic exceptionalism.

Expand full comment

Terrific ! Thx

Expand full comment

Thank you for joining me in this conversation.

Expand full comment

My husband read iit it and said “ what a fantastic piece of writing”

clever turns of phrase and profound observations

Typing without my readers

Expand full comment

Please thank him for me. It's wonderful to lift up that amazing time without pandering to it.

Expand full comment

Brilliant.. and sadly true

Expand full comment

What part do you find sad?

Expand full comment

Sad that so many of those days are behind me. I would like a few do-overs.

Expand full comment

Do-overs to re-experience joyful moments or to "correct for errors?" When I think back on some of what life offered up when I was young, I'm amazed I survived.

Expand full comment

I am amazed that I made it too. You ask a good question. Were we an exceptional generation?

Expand full comment

I think we lucked into a fertile time. But it is interesting that, as I wrote, you can't evaluate a generation from the inside. I don't know about your children, but mine aren't particularly impressed....although the music was good.

Expand full comment

When I think of things I did and survived, my straight hair curls.

Expand full comment

It could be worthwhile to remember the fragility of life every now and then.

Expand full comment

Beautiful post, Susie. I think you are onto something.

Expand full comment

Thanks, Anne. Are you writing about aging as well?

Expand full comment

It can’t help but creep into my posts given my age, but my focus is cooking and baking and the life lessons we get from them.

Expand full comment

This is so good! One of your best!

Expand full comment

I love the idea of integrating the remarkable past into the arduous present. Not that the past was perfect, but it sure was different.

Expand full comment

I agree. Susie wields a mighty pen. And we are her fortunate readers —always left with something to think about.

Expand full comment

We are so many kindred souls wandering in the late afternoon dusk.

Fabulous--thank you!

Expand full comment

It would do us good to remember that. We've all been somewhere remarkable.

Expand full comment

Susie, your considerable prowess with our evocative and gorgeous language means it’s almost scary to comment. Those years in which we grew up do seem different than those my children are experiencing. There was the normal human quotient of evil, apathy and complacency, but it was offset by a flowering of hope and the presence of formidable positive change. That stays in my aging bones. Not nostalgia but the memory of what we can accomplish through a shared vision.

Expand full comment

I am harmless, truly. And your idea of a shared vision is powerful. Thanks for writing, Kristin.

Expand full comment

Harmless like Dumbledore, maybe.

Those who can write as well as you do, can influence.

Expand full comment

Thank you again, Kristin. If what you say is true, I certainly hope my influence is in the direction of peace.

Expand full comment