It is sure nice to stumble upon your wonderful blog. I am a younger boomer, born in ’57; reading AlmostSavvy is so refreshing to me. It is great to know that people my age group are into linkedin, facebook and etc. I have embraced ‘net technology in all its’ glory, esp. for networking. I have already subscribed to your blog, looking forward to more of your writing!

Peace and Love (are still in style),

Catherine

I never woulda thunk that you’d know anything about punch cards or card readers. And a ’64VW. Gee, you must have grown up way early.

Anyway, thanks for the post – yep, they think us Boomers are dinosaurs, incapable of being tech-savvy… but they got another thought coming.

I have a blog topic brewing around this subject also. I’m going to reference you’re post in it.

Cheers Boomer!
~Jim Turner
http://twitter.com/jim_turner

@Carol – Agreed. There is no one way I’d like to connect with others and get information. We find affinity with one another in a variety of ways.

@Michael – Another twitter friend and great resource. Very cool that your parents are finding new ways to explore their interests using technology.

@George – Thanks for sharing the message. It is very easy to relate to the author’s words.

@Hilary – Isn’t it interesting? We’re always on the go, connecting instantaneously. How did we survive before tweets and IMs?

Just by coincidence I got this classic (can’t find the author) message today about aging. Hope you enjoy it. — George

Old Age, I’ve decided, is a gift

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don’t agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend.

I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avantgarde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 & 70′s, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .. I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set .
They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody’s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

Whether it be from having technology in front of me since I was born, to working IT in an office of fifty-five 60+ year olds. I can see both sides of your post.

I’m 33, and I feel I still don’t know everything out there. I try to learn as much as I can, and encourage everyone I talk to to do the same.

My dad, who is 60+, is now head of a Graphic Design department, because he asked me every computer question that he could. Now, I go to him for Photoshop tips. My mom, who would never touch a computer or even a typewriter in the past, now searches Google for every cooking recipe known to man.

As far as the people in my office, that is another thing, they don’t want to learn, and I feel sorry for them. Either way, they keep me busy, and I still have a job because of them, so I can’t complain.

On blogging, I find it to me to be a great thing, and a release. I have never been into writing/reading, but I set aside some time now, and I write what is ever on my mind. I even got my dad in on it too. He wrote a book, and we are in the process of getting it online for him to sell and blog about. And from the post on my blog – ” http://mzampino.com/blog/2008/9/24/paintings-by-ron-zampino.html “, my dad has put his art online.

So I find it impressive for anyone born prior to the technology we currently have now that uses and isn’t afraid of it.

Hope this helps…

Regards,

Michael Zampino
http://mzampino.com