New Jersey Baby Boomer

I’m older than I was, and I’m an American, does this mean I fit into the criteria to be taking Older Americans Month seriously? The following was taken from U.S. Administration on Aging site, a page dedicated to the observance of “Older Americans Month“, after you read this you may want to visit the site, it has a lot of great resources:

We celebrate older Americans and their families by praising their contributions to our country. We also celebrate and express our gratitude to the countless number of dedicated health and human service professionals, scientists and volunteers that work with or on behalf of elders in communities across the country every day.

As a nation we are beginning to experience in “real time” the aging of our population with the first wave of Baby Boomers beginning to turn 65 now and building the ranks of the 78 million Baby Boomers into the future. We have a unique opportunity to address these changing demographics and some of the solutions are right in front of us.

Well I’m not a 65 Baby Boomer, but if you switch the numbers, you’ve got my age, a 1951 born boomer. Maybe this is a good month to look around us at those who are older than we are and thank them for the good they have done. Maybe it’s a good month to look ahead a bit and make sure that we’ve planned for the days to come, and if the picture doesn’t look so bright right now, may the fact that this is the National Day of Prayer turn our focus toward a God who loves us and promises to provide our needs, maybe not everything we want, but our needs.

Now don’t think I’m being pious here, I have spent more than my share of time looking at our little home, wishing it was bigger, wishing we hadn’t become victims of the job loss epidemic for a time so that we had minimal income and had to pay COBRA to keep our medical insurance alive…wishing, wishing, wishing. Then one day I was blind-sided while listening to a Bible reading on CD from Matthew 26, and realized that I really do have everything I need. I’m warm, I have cloths, I have a refrigerator stuffed with food, the COBRA saved us a lot of money because hubby had a heart attack while unemployed, he’s doing great now, my son just got a job in his field after a long time looking, my daughter and her husband are happily married, yes, there are lots of things that could be better, but there’s lots more to be thankful for.