REFLECTIONS/GENERATIONS

My younger granddaughter turned nine years old this week.  Of course she's eager to be ten, since that's double-digits/pre-teen.  I think she's already nine going on nineteen, so I'm in no hurry for the calendar to catch up.  

Having a sister 5-1/2 years older than she is has influenced her precociousness, along with being  intellectually bright and curious in her own right, as well as being tall for her age.  All have led to people  thinking she is older.  She towers above most of her classmates.  But they should have seen her at her BD dinner, making the ever-popular "slime" from a kit, hugging her new Squishmallow stuffies, diving into her chocolate cake.  She's just a kid.

I look at her and wonder what future she will inhabit.  God knows the world is a mess and millions of U.S. citizens seem poised to once again put a narcissistic autocrat back in the White House later this year.  The rich continue to get richer while every major city and most small cities and even more rural areas have encampments of un-homed, drug-addicted, and mental ill people on the streets and in the parks.  

I still believe education is the answer.  I believe opening our minds to new information, our hearts to different cultures and peoples, our spirits to growth, compassion, and reflection (both about ourselves and others) can guide us to a better world.  

Just today, popping up in Facebook Memories, I read this little missive that I had posted on Facebook awhile back in response to someone else's post about the plight of Millennials:

"Nothing has broken my heart quite as much as realizing that my sage advice to my children was to "go to college; you'll get a great job".  Since neither of my sons was sure what they wanted to pursue, I thought a good liberal arts education, while not career specific, would serve them.  Just having that degree would open doors where they could "learn on the job".  This was the naive thinking of someone who was the first in her family to get a college degree at a time when that was all you needed to get a foot in the door of a professional life.  

Just as they graduated, the Great Recession hit; a recession caused in large part by the greed and avarice of bankers and politicians who are still getting richer and more powerful. Those good jobs were hard to come by; a living wage almost impossible to earn.  It was hard.  Both moved back home for a time, which would have been unheard of in my generation.  I never saw that coming.  I didn't prepare them for such a setback.  It took some time to find their way to stability.

Still, I hope the college education allowed them to gain a wider world perspective, allowed them to learn more about themselves, allowed them to grow in ways they wouldn't have had they not gone away to school, and offered an opportunity to find interests and passions, and make great memories.  But I know the automatic "good job" never happened effortlessly and that their financial struggles are vastly different from those of my generation and age.

I am so impressed with the fortitude and work ethic of my sons now, and their wives.  I am impressed with their positive attitudes and personal values.  I definitely don't see them acting as if they are 'entitled', as is often the judgement aimed at Millennials.  I see them trying hard, working hard, living with purpose, finding a balance between work and life.  

Boomers, because of sheer numbers, have driven the social and political narrative for years.  Now it's the Millennials who are the leaders in numbers and and who can drive the narrative.  They are raising children now who will come of age in an ever-changing world.  All we can do is the best we can do in each generation and hope those who come after us will creatively and passionately work towards a better world."

I just pray that the world my grandchildren inherit is one in which they can learn, grow, thrive, and love.  I hope they can be fully themselves and that their considerable gifts are welcomed and celebrated.  I hope they will find passion and purpose.  I hope they will flourish and contribute to a more beautiful world.

I hope? I have largely given up using the word "hope"in my life.  I see it as a wished for future that is non-existent and beyond our control.  Hoping hasn't served me.  But when it comes to my grandkids, words like "pray" and "hope"come flowing out onto this page and instead of editing them away, I leave them.  That says something about me, I suppose.  Desperate times. Desperate measures. Desperate love. 🙏🏽

At least, that's the view from here...©