The Disappearing Generation

Our parent's generation is disappearing, we who are called "baby boomers".  Each day, there are fewer and fewer to carry on memories.

I saw a Facebook post yesterday, one that got me to thinking. 

It was a picture of a young adult woman with a monkey perched on her shoulder, 1954.

Fast forward many years.  I had met this woman's daughter through blogging.  We friended each other on Facebook, and several years ago, my spouse and I finally met her, at a Civil War reenactment, near Charleston, South Carolina.

Along with the blogger came her son, and her mother, the woman in the picture, a British woman who had immigrated here sometime after World War II.  There was something about her - something special, something adventurous. Aging had not stopped her.

My blogger friend had been a single mother with two children, a son and daughter.  Her mother helped her raise them.  My spouse talked about thunderstorms with her, several minutes before one hit, and we separated.

I had no idea how old her mother was until yesterday, when my fellow blogger announced her mother's death on Facebook.

Later today, I will be visiting my mother in law.

Yes, death is a natural part of life, and the generations before us have made room for us who now walk in the sunshine. 

One day, it will be our turn to face whatever is to come with grace, and to teach those coming after us.  Aging must not stop us, either, until the day we are called to wherever we go next.

RIP.