Apprentice Old Guy muses on what we leave to grandkids

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Dan Hazen / Herald Forum

“They look great on older gentlemen.” She was referring to the new pair of glasses I was wearing. She meant it as a compliment; and I took it as a compliment. But there was that sort of, “back hand” to it, too.

My wife and I say we are Junior Old Folks. Sometimes I refer to myself as an apprentice Old Guy. Most days, I don’t feel like an older gentleman because my interior world seems much the same as it did when I was 14: Highly motivated by the approval of others, too self-conscious and afraid of failure. Yet, I’m also still drawn to adventure and irreverent humor, so it’s not all depressing.

But how does someone of my generation (either very young boomer or very old X’er) step into the role of “older gentlemen” beyond just his fashion choices? I ask because I’m afraid we’re failing the upcoming generations and denying them the old folks they deserve.

I was privileged to have as my old folks WWII veterans, survivors of the Great Depression and those who got us to the moon and back with little more than a slide rule. Loggers and fishermen, farmers and poets. Yeah, they drank too much. Yeah, they were too concerned with the status quo, but that was largely because they suffered and wanted to protect us from the same fate.

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https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/forum-apprentice-old-guy-muses-on-what-we-leave-to-grandkids/

[keithbvadu2]

1. You look good for...