THANKFUL FOR A GENERATION

by Jerry Murley

As a representative of the baby boomers of America, I have listed what might be common points of thankfulness for a peculiar but outstanding generation.

I am thankful

To be here and whole;

For the quality and gifts of my predecessors and my descendants;

To have had enough to never want for food and shelter but not so much as to forget gratitude and the need to work for what I have;

To be among a majority who opens doors to people unlike themselves while retaining the cautious habit of guarding doors against likely assailants;

For the polio vaccine and a life-long health safety net;

To have been able to marvel at television – and disconnect it;

To see our man on the moon for peaceful purposes and never doubt the feat;

To have known honorable, liberal study before respect for it declined;

To have felt the joy, creativity and power of my generation;

To have optimism verified time and again;

To have escaped the enslavement of religious extremism while being ever aware of the mystery and spiritual wonder in the smallest details of everyday life;

To live among family and friends whose unconditional love is guaranteed;

For the confidence and courage to not be deterred by what others think while maintaining the practical, decent sense to try to meet them half way;

To have never doubted the strength, security, and fundamental goodness of my homeland and its people;

To have personal computing technology arrive before we were too fixed in our ways to learn to use it wisely but not while we were still young;

Rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and wide-ranging, unrestrained humor;

To have joined in demanding respect for our shared planet and getting it;

For clean water and untainted food;

To have been willing to try and knowing when to stop.