On Jan. 27th I turned 64. It amazes me to find myself at this age. When I was a child of ten, I can remember thinking that I would be fifty years old in 1995 and even stretched myself to think of being fifty five in the year 2000 but that is where it stopped. It is not as much fun to imagine myself as eighty in 2025 but as they say, it is better than the alternative (hopefully). I am fortunate to have my father still alive (and healthy). At least for him, I am his baby.
I was born on the day Auschwitz was liberated. I remember the election of Eisenhower in 1953. I think I even wore a button that said “I like Ike”) which meant I was a republican when I was eight. Thank god that did not last long. My first memory of world events was the end of the Korean War in 1953 (although we still have our solders there). I remember the election of Jack Kennedy and sadly his death and the death of his brother, Robert and Dr. King.. I participated in the civil rights movement and the anti war movement and saw a man walk on the moon (via TV). The beetles were young then and there was still four of them. I worked with single transistors and programed my first computer (its memory was less than the number of bits in a photo I take with my phone). I read the Year 2000 in 1967 by Herman Kahn (Rand Corp). He said that the world would be transformed by cheap nuclear energy. I believed it.
I knew my grandparents and even a great grandmother who lived long enough to hold my son in her arms. Now I am the grand parent of three grandsons and I do video chat with them via skype when I travel. I have my genes scanned, take vitamins and exercise more then ten hours a week and wonder if I will know my grand children as adults.
