WHAT IS A BABY BOOMER

OK, I had to look it up. I know I am a Baby Boomer. But, I wasn't quite sure how to define it. So-off to Wikipedia.

Apparently Wikipedia doesn't know either but is willing to speculate. Wikipedia says the you should consider yourself a part of the Baby Boomer generation if the following is part of your background: born between 1946 and 1954 (maybe), post WWII, coming of age in the 60's, Vietnam, rock and roll, JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., Motown, Beatles, drugs, sex, women's movement, assassinations, demonstrations, wild hair and crazy clothes.

It was a pretty wild time in the annals of American Culture. I had always, in my mind, defined Baby Boomers as persons born during a particularly explosive boom in the birth rate following WWII. I would also describe Baby Boomers as extremely bright, college educated, socially and environmentally conscious trend setters. Laid back and ambitious. It also would appear that their politics swung from left to right over the span of a lifetime-at least for many.

But, you really can't separate Baby Boomers from the rigid, almost suffocating, lives of our parents based on our assumptions about what we believe their lives were like during the 40's and 50's. That is a time that could bear closer examination. Our parents should really be admired for undertaking the responsibilities of marrying, having babies and going off to war at far too young an age. In our childhood, there were no or very few women police, mail men, bus driver's, truck driver's, fire fighters, politicians, lawyers, doctors, musicians, Supreme Court Justices, journalists or business owners. Everything was a secret, especially from the kids. Fathers were distant. Mothers, and all women, were repressed.

In fact, without that generation, Baby Boomers may not have been so determined to rebel. Would we have been so hell bent on making our lives and the world different? I know I'm extremely grateful for our parent's sacrifice. Is there any wonder that cocktails and mini bars were so widely embraced? Let's not forget that it is the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill. You do the math.

I hate to say it. Don't like to brag. But there will never be another generation quite like the Baby Boomers. We were not to be ignored or denied. I just hope that before it's all said and done, we Baby Boomers will kick start another generation to finish what we started. Men still need to learn to treat all women as if they were your sister, your daughter, your mother. Women still could learn to respect and embrace other women. There's no reason in hell that we still do not have a woman president. Racism continues to form too many actions and thoughts even though we do have our first Black president in Barack Obama. Money and the pursuit of money rules too many lives. Still, gay rights and the use of marijuana are moving forward. Plus, when we figure out what the passage of the healthcare bill means, I'm sure we'll be happy.

But, a lot of crazy stuff persists-witness Arizona passing a law authorizing police to demand proof of citizenship from anyone who looks like an illegal. I was born in the U.S., but I don't know when the last time was that I saw my birth certificate.

The fact is, that even when you get to be our Baby Boomer age and think you've seen it all, you ain't seen nothing yet. There is always some new and exciting drama, personality, invention, discovery, phenomena or story to unfold.

I am not willing to step aside and let the younger whipper snappers rule the day. Not just yet. We still have new adventures and trouble to get into. I am on a quest to find out what we Baby Boomers are up to and to incite our kind into making more waves. I know we can't help nodding out in front of the TV. That's OK. I know we are carrying around more extra pounds than we'd like to admit. I know we can't carry a thought from one room to the next. Our eyes are open when they need to be-mostly. But, I bet most of us have lived life with gusto and done some of the things we wanted to do? Maybe we didn't get rich, but we did start a business, pursue a career, invent something, chase stardom? In other words, we've had "big fun."

OK, who am I fooling? What I'm really doing is looking for inspiration and hoping to share with other boomers. What are folks our age doing that gets us up and out? What thrills are there still to be had? We can't just sit here waiting until marijuana becomes legal.

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