En route to visit She Who Must sing, the awful truth struck me suddenly
in the middle of my lumber vertebra. The suitcase that I had been
hoisting with great ease and dexterity for the last twenty years,
suddenly caught me in a vice like grip of pain. And what's more ..
there is now a blind and frantic grapple for the specs as I am no
longer able to read signs of any description, due to some sudden
strange eye disease that I have contracted !!
Worst of all those expensive creams I have been purchasing for my face
are now failing to smooth out the lines until at least midday and a
thick layer of subcutaneous fat is rapidly encompassing my middle from
below my bust to just above my knees.
The horrid truth has finally dawned -- the dreadful things they have
been saying about the Baby Boomers, have at last arrived !!
We Baby Boomers, according to the fundis, were born anywhere between
1946 and 1964.
Caused of course by the elation of victory and large numbers of
returning troops to their country after the end of World War II thus
triggering off a baby boom.
In those days most Rhodesians were fighting for King and country as a
colony of Britain, and both my Mum and Dad were in the British Royal
Airforce stationed at Kumalo Airport in Bulawayo. Hence Baby Boomers
abound in Zim today.
Whatever year we were born, we Boomers came of age at the same time
across the world, so that while Britain was undergoing Beatlemania
...... people in the United States were driving over to Woodstock,
organizing against the Vietnam War, or fighting and dying in the same
war.
18 year old Boomers in Italy were dressing in mod clothes and "buying
the world a Coke", boomers in India were seeking new philosophical
discoveries, American boomers in Canada had just found a new home after
escaping the draft south of the border, and boomers in Mexico were
discovering new hallucinogenic drugs and rediscovering old ones.
Boomers in Zimbabwe didn't even know about the term Boomer and were not
doing anything special except enjoying ourselves as normal healthy
teenagers !!
Every day hundreds of thousands of the baby boomers born between 1946
and 1964, celebrate their 50th birthdays. The very earliest Boomers
(if you do your maths) are hitting sixty next year !!
And thousands of them are finding, as I have found, that we are not as
infallible as we always thought we were !!
The art of Travelling to Hee Hoo and to me, had become second nature,
easy almost, but suddenly the jet lag takes longer to shake off, and
whereas before we were iron-men travellers now we feel like dented
pieces of luggage after a long haul flight.
Suddenly instead of drinking champagne and watching the movies all
night long, we are drinking water and doing exercises to try and avoid
DVT .... Gone are the days when we could haul huge amounts of luggage
across the concourse, now we have to settle for lightweight luggage and
a couple of ibuprofen beforehand !!
And then of course there is all that vulnerability to those germs that
lurk around in aeroplanes, trying to keep those little nasties at bay
takes a whole suitcase full of unguents and medications.
Oh the joys of being a Baby Boomer !!
Those halcyon days are gone now, when HeeHoo and I would backpack
across soggy foggy Ireland, when we would find comfort and joy sleeping
on a wooden bed in freezing cold spartan mountain huts with only a
sleeping bag and a pair of hiking boots, and we would often drive,
seven of us, in a tiny un airconditioned car, across deserts for three
days !!
These days I love my private space and turned-down percale sheets. I
yearn for that occasional upgrade to business class, I love having
porters to carry my luggage, I look for the elevators and not the
stairs in airports and hotels.
As we geriatric Boomers approach our middle age, will it still be 19
hour long hauls across the world's various oceans from now on to visit
the fledglings who have fled the nest, or will we have to resort to
compression stockings and cruises ?
May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE MARCH ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS
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