Thank God for my age

 There is a meme on social media which goes something like, "Thank Go I grew up before social media. I have memories but no evidence" or something like that. 

I think of that now that I am at the sweet spot age of 63. I am in relatively good health, am still working, and am thinking of all that retirement may bring. It is fast approaching and I am looking forward to the day when I can go or do without having to worry about work. 

I had my retirement mapped out and my life planned for after 55 but the recession and demise of print newspapers had other ideas. It required me to create a new life, new job, new goals and a new retirement age. I have been lucky in my planning and never had to file for bankruptcy, lost my house, or worry  about feeding myself or my dogs. I do live on a budget now and there is not as much expendable cash as when I worked for the paper, but I have no complaints except the lack of money for travel. 

Thanks to my upbringing as an Army brat, I traveled extensively with my parents growing up. I loved it. I loved moving every two  or three years, experiencing a new place and new things. Friends did not figure in the picture very much because I was not a social child. I love my books, my trolls, my dog and a few friends over the years. Not many. I did have experiences. Some were great and some were not.

I made the final move of my childhood in the early 1970s and suddenly found myself with a group of friends,  a couple who are still with me today. I had a curfew of midnight on the weekends, and was normally home by 10 on weeknights unless something was going on at the school.

My parents let me be a teenager. I am sure I did some things they would not have approved of. In fact, I know I did. Guess what? I survived. I learned to make decisions. I learned people. We would walk for miles before I got my grandmother's old 1962 Impala when I was 16. My mom didn't drive us anywhere. The bus was always available. Were there scummy, stinky people of the city bus line? Yep, but we just ignored them. Could we have been picked up by some creepy abuser? Yep, but we all learned common sense. 

We drank Cokes, not bottled water. We could have any drug we wanted but most chose to be careful. We kissed boys in cars and flirted with anyone we wanted. We had breakfast at the lunch counter at McCrory's downtown, which was for me, a cherry Coke and an order of fries. We took pictures with a camera, sometimes a Polaroid, and smiled. 

As I teach my kids every day, I am so thankful for my parents. The rule was you went to school., You had to be near death to stay home. Appointments were made for after school, if at all. The worst punishment I ever received was skipping school in 9th grade. I never did that again. They did not hover. They allowed us to be teens, make mistakes, and grow up. I am so thankful that my many memories were not captured on social media or by a cell phone camera. I am so thankful for friends that still keep in touch. I am thankful.