50+ Lifestyles

One Day at a Time!

By Mary Schricker Gemberling

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,
the last of life, for which the first was made.”

                                             … Robert Browning

I am carving a small amount of time today out my crazy busy world to get these words on paper. I usually start thinking about topics for an article about two weeks before the due date, but this one crept up on me. Since I am only two days from my deadline it looks like the topic will be ‘WHAT’ is making my world so insane. Since about the middle of June Gary and I have been moving into our new house out in Blue Grass, at the western edge of the Quad Cities.

One day at a time, one box at a time for nearly a month we have been making it a home. I made so many trips from the garage into the house one day, I logged 13,750 steps on my smart watch. I do believe I was asleep that night before my head hit the pillow. It’s been awhile since I have seen the things I am unpacking, so it is kind of like Christmas every day. When we packed up our large home out in the country three years ago I was unsure about what I would or would not need to decorate a future home, so in addition to unpacking I am making decisions of what to keep and what to donate. Thankfully there is a great little resale shop just a few blocks away called Blessings. The money they earn from their sales helps organizations in both the community and the surrounding area…..thus their name!

This is all part of the plan Gary and I came up with for our retirement years. We decided that we would like to split our time between our friends and activities in Illinois and our family and friends here in Iowa…..the best of both worlds without a doubt. Our decision has certainly received mixed reviews from friends and strangers alike. We have been asked: how are you going to decide where to be and how will you remember where things are? We laugh a lot at the questions and realize that people are curious with no malice intended. Our plan is to take life one day at a time and go where our schedule takes us.

One thing this new undertaking has shown me is how adventurous Gary and I are and how young we feel for our age. But we also know that lives can change in a moment (especially at our age). It is that knowledge that pushes us to live each day, each month, and each year to its fullest. From time to time I come across a post or email someone has shared and save it to a file.The following is one of those saved items. Our generation has come so far, but we are not done yet. Age is but a number!

They call us “The Elderly”

We were born in the 40-50-60’s.

We grew up in the 50-60-70’s.

We studied in the 60-70-80’s.

We were dating in the 70-80-90’s.

We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90’s.

We venture into the 80-90’s.

We stabilize in the 2000’s.

We got wiser in the 2010’s.

And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020.

Turns out we’ve lived through EIGHT different decades… TWO different centuries… TWO different millennia…

We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world.

We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App.

From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, color TV and then to 3D HD TV.

We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix.

We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.

We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, oxfords, flares, suits & blue jeans.

We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.

We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric.

Yes, we’ve been through a lot but what a great life we’ve had!

They could describe us as “xennials,” people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood.

We’ve “Seen-It-All”!

Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life.

It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE.”

A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation

– Author unknown

“Aging is just another name for living”…..Cindy Joseph

Mary, a former educator and Seniors Real Estate Specialist is the author of four books: The West End Kid, Labor of Love; My Personal Journey through the World of Caregiving, Hotel Blackhawk; A Century of Elegance, and Ebenezer United Methodist Church; 150 Years of Resiliency.