Sunday Afternoons with Shirley Temple

 

Image by Keith Roper via Creative Commons

Earlier this week, I saw that "animal crackers in my soup" was a trending topic on Twitter. Sure enough, this referenced a lyric from a song that Shirley Temple sung in the film Curly Top (1935). People were recalling a late-night commercial for a DVD set of her films.  (See IMDB for a list of her films.) This started me on a trip down memory lane. 

COVID-19 Neologisms and When Old Words Were New

 

image by jovike. 

As a college instructor who has been teaching classes English departments since the 1980s, my observations about aging often focus on word choice, etymology, usage, technical terms for phenomena observed by people in aging bodies, and evolving definitions:

• Generation Jones-er as a specific term for younger Boomers
• Gerotranscendence as type of wisdom often associated with advanced age
• Gray vs Grey in the context of my age-correlated changes to my hair color
• Grounded as my focus word for inviting greater calm and maturity
• Midlife defined not by age but by a variety of milestones
• Older Adults as the preferred term replacing senior citizens, etc. 
• Vollendungsroman a literary term for a novel of completion or fullness 

Consequently, my curiousity was piqued when I saw @MerriamWebster share a link to their Time Traveler search tool. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler

Celebrate Singers Who Are Stayin' Alive

Photo by Phillip Pessar.

All too often, headlines announce the passing of an American music legend.

I honor their contribution to the music industry specifically and American culture in general.

However, I feel the need to focus on national treasures still with us.

I spent some time today looking at the Billboard Hot 100 lists for my teen years: 1973-1980.

Here is a list of singers who are still living, many of whom are still writing, recording or performing. 

So here is a shout out to those surviving singers (turning 66 to 78 this year) who provided the soundtrack of my teenage years.

The Pedestriennes: Book Review

Published  26 June 2014.

I love reading about athletes.  They inspire me to persevere through my present life challenges.

As a gerontologist, I most often follow news stories about mature athletes.

However, when I heard about the pedestriennes, I decided to talk a walk down memory lane.

But not my memory.

In order to help memorialize this fascinating group of female athletes, I eagerly read Harry Hall's 2014 book, The Pedestriennes: America's Forgotten Superstars.

I have accepted a review copy of Hall's book in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Thanks to Hall's tireless research, I learned a great deal about the pedestriennes, who captured the nation's attention for about five years in the late 1870s.

In a quest for fortune and fame, they would walk for days on end with little sleep.

Love & Mercy: Film Review

Released broadly in the US
June 2015.

Even though I listened to the Beach Boys obsessively during my teens, I have not read anything (until this week) about their lives--which I find incredulous.

But watching Love & Mercy (2015) last Friday was a crash course on the life of Brian Wilson, the primary composer for the group.

Based on Wilson's life Love & Mercy focuses on two time periods: the years surrounding his studio work on Pet Sounds and the years he received treatment under the direction of Dr. Eugene Landy. 

Paul Dano plays the younger Brian Wilson, who at a very young age is caught trying to manage a lot of unmanageable forces.

Wilson composes critically acclaimed music while facing a controlling father, crushing fame, pressure from fellow band members, escalating symptoms of undiagnosed mental illness, starting a family when both he and his first wife were very young, and excessive use of drugs and alcohol.

Any one of these pressures would push me to a breaking point. It's no wonder Wilson had trouble coping.

The film doesn't fast forward to the 1980s; it alternates between the early years and later years.

Disco Kiss Memory

Photo by Rosie Rogers

I was 15 and fearing that in a few months I would turn Sweet 16 and never been kissed.

There were a handful of boys that I crushed on. However, I was bookish, argumentative and socially awkward.  I spent a lot of time as a wall flower.

[This post is part of a Blog Hop hosted by Midlife Boulevard.]

From 14 on, I would attend dances and watch other girls my age flirt effortlessly--or so it seemed to me.  I was a teen during the 1970s when disco dominated the airwaves.

If I wasn't moony enough already, the following disco songs were playing on the radio during the months that prom was in full swing in late Spring 1977:

Born in 1962

Photos from Creative Commons.
See below for links to specific photo credits.

I'm always interested to hear how people my own age are doing.

Logically, I know that people are so diverse from one another that I'm not going to observe meaningful patterns or draw valid parallels.

Nevertheless, keeping an eye on my age mates gives me some gauge of how I'm moving through time.

Consequently, I've decided to make a list of people born in 1962.

See this related post: B. 1954-64:
Chasing the Older Boomers

Wikipedia does have such a list, but it includes thousands of people from several countries and notable for a variety of achievements.

Admittedly, I don't recognize the vast majority of these notable people.  Trying to read every entry on that list proved overwhelming.

A list of  75 people my age seems more than adequate, but did I miss someone famous?

I admit to selecting those whom I recognize.  If I missed a notable person while researching, inform me in the comments.

All my best to you, age mates!

Christmas Films Now & Then

Movie Still from It's a Wonderful Life by S_Herman.

My kids' definition of "Classic Christmas Movie" and mine differ quite a bit.

If you want an exhaustive list with a very loose definition of "Christmas," go here. 

My favorites are the made-for-television, stop-animation movies done by Rankin-Bass in the 1960s & 70s as well as black & white films released in theaters in the 1940s.

My kids convinced me to add a few of there favorites from more recent years, and I do like Love Actually (2003), A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and A Christmas Story (1983) Otherwise, I'm holding the line.

So let's take a trip down memory lane and look at a list of Christmas movies. These are the ones our family enjoys the most--listed from most recent to most classic.

3 Karens on the Track

Photo by Heikki Siltala.

Another trip to the YMCA where I'm measuring my pace against Father Time.  After an injury last fall followed by an illness in the winter, I got lazy about getting to the gym.  In 2013, I had been spending about 10 hours a week at the gym doing a combination of cardio, yoga and strength training.  I was moving so fast that I figured Father Time would consider me "outta sight, outta mind."  

Not so fast. 

Grey Gardens: 1975 Documentary

Big Edie & Little Edie
Photo by Slagheap.

For the last five years, I've been viewing and reviewing films that feature older adults.

For this reason, I have long had the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens in my "to be viewed" queue (along with 170+ others).

After being nudged by the bloggers at Dementia Mama Drama to see this Grey Gardens (1975), I finally moved this cult classic to the top of my queue.

The documentary shows a mother and daughter living in a decaying mansion in East Hampton, New York.

The film contains relevance for me because the 58-year-old daughter "Little Edie" serves as a caregiver for her 80-year-old mother "Big Edie."  (These are their ages during filming.)  Many posts I write are aimed at midlife adults who are supporting their older adult parents with age-related issues.

However, I am not sure how to respond to the documentary.

Little Edie. Photo by Slagheap.

Share Music Videos with Others

Photo by Steve. 

Once a week I spend the afternoon with a dozen friends at a local skilled nursing center.

Sometimes we have a lull in an activity we're doing together. 

When this happens, I always offer to sing as a way to fill the time. 

They howl, "No, don't do that."  

This week we were joking about our day being a stereotypical Monday.  One of the residents asked me if I knew the song "Monday. Monday," released in 1966.  

Again, I volunteered to sing. Olivia protested, "Nooooo!"  

Objects that Mark Time

Photo by Tim Ellis. 

I'm often so consumed by my day-to-day tasks that I fail to note the passing of time. But there are moments that make me very aware.

Yes, clocks and calendars help me mark time.

But I also see a few objects around me that help me realize that time is leaving its mark on various objects--including me!

I experienced a keen awareness of time earlier this week when I visited my centenarian friend Gladys Bever, b. 1910.

Gladys & one of her mother's paintings

Her son Harold Bever had come to visit the same day. Harold carried with him a painting that his maternal grandmother had painted.

Glady's mother is Harriet "Hattie" Amy Leet Beilby Oakley. Here is a link to her grave marker.

Harriet was married twice, having been widowed when Ralph Wright Beilby (b. 1871) died in 1904.

Gladys is Harriet's child from her second marriage, which was to Amasa George Oakley (b. 1874, d. 1932).

Here is a link to the 1920 census record for Glady's family when she was 9 years old.

What struck me most that day was realizing that Glady's mother was born in 1873.

Met a WW2 Vet Today

Martin Weibel, WW2 Veteran

On Mondays I volunteer at Kansas Masonic Home here in Wichita, Kansas.  I help call bingo in the afternoons in the skilled nursing campus.

I have volunteered here since October of 2011. I know residents from the independent living campus and the assisted living campus, too.

Today, Memorial Day, I was walking into the lobby and saw a gentleman wearing a navy ball cap, so I stopped to talk with him. I'm very glad that I did.

He was visiting a fellow sailor's widow, Barbara, who lives at KMH. He drove down with a relative from Minnesota in order to spend the weekend visiting with Barbara and sharing memories about his service with her husband.

I'd like you to meet Martin Weibel, age 90, who served in the navy on the USS Hadley, a destroyer.  He worked in the boiler room. 

I found a webpage about 16 reunions of the crew members, and Martin has the distinction of attending all 16. He's pictured in a group photo of the 2007 reunion.

I was late for meeting with a resident at 1:30 pm, so I didn't get to speak with him for very long, but I shook his hand and thanked him for his service to the country.  Serendipity!

Related:

Life with Father: Ship Shaped

A Legacy of Pioneer Mothers

My great-great grandmother Mary Ann Ward Webb
front and center with her children. Taken 1924.

My house echoes with the voices of my pioneer ancestors. I am a fifth generation Mormon woman, and I feel this ancestry often.

Whether I'm cooking dinner, folding laundry, teaching my children or doing my devotional reading, I think about my fore-mothers daily.

In fact, I named my daughter after two of my pioneer ancestors: Mary Ann and Clara.

This is a Midlife Boulevard Blog Hop. Because the 37 links below will disappear soon, I am saving three for future reference:
@piaSavage of Courting Destiny describes a Good Cop, Bad Cop mothering moment
@LynnCobb shares a double dose of mother's intuition birth story on her blog.
@loisaltermark of Midlife at the Oasis marvels at her mother's sense of style 

Remembering the Beatles

Photo by Carlos Jaimes.

As a younger Boomer, I have always been a little bit late to the party.  I was only two years old when the Beatles made their first trip to the US on February 7, 1964--fifty years ago this week.

So it was about a dozen years after their British invasion that I started buying their albums and spending hours learning the lyrics to all of their songs.

This post is part of a Midlife Boulevard blog hop, kicked off with a lyrics quiz by Roz aka @WriterRozWarren.  

Since the thumbnails below will disappear, here are a couple posts I'm saving along with Roz's. Check out @over50feeling40 aka Pam's post on being a screamer. And read what @Claudoo aka Claudia shares about the Ed Sullivan show and about John's death. 

My JFK Memory

Detail of photo taken by Seansie
at the
National Portrait Gallery

Even though I am a Boomer, I can't answer to the question, "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?" because I was only 22 months old that day.

I can, however, report that JFK's image was prevalent throughout my childhood.

While growing up in the 1960s, I was immersed with images of this young president with boyish good looks.

He and Jackie somehow managed to reflect the ideal while also being relatable. Photos of the President and the First Lady with their young children revealed the softer side of America's first power couple.

But it wasn't photos of Jack's dimples or Jackie's wardrobe that resonated with me during my youth. It was a statement about Kennedy's political failures that stuck with me the most.

I remember one of my grade school teachers giving us a worksheet about JFK.  I learned that JFK had made a number of failed runs for office over his political career.

I was stunned to read this.  And as I moved from a child to a teen to a young adult, this memory helped me to persevere past failures and into success.
                   

~*~*~

This post is part of a Midlife Boulevard Blog Hop! 

The two dozen links below will dissipate in a week or two, so I'm preserving a few that captured my attention this time. 

Lori at Lavender Lulz describes Jackie's immediate response.

Renee at The Practical Shaman describes her confusion at age 6.

Cathy at An Empowered Spirit remembers her six-year-old brother's screaming when Ruby shot Oswald.
~*~*~

Music Triggers Memories

Photo by twm1340. 

We're approaching the end of summer.  My kids just registered for school, and we purchased school supplies. The first day of school is less than a week away.

In this liminal space, summer shimmers like a mirage, moving between being an experience and a memory.

As Labor Day nears, I wonder which fragments of this summer will I shore up?

Will I remember --

* Walking along a bridge spanning a rain-swollen river with cousins visiting from North Carolina?

* Making prize-winning pavlova with my daughter?

* Laughing and crying while watching Silver Linings Playbook with my son? OR

* Singing songs from Spam-a-lot with my husband and our kids at home after they returned from seeing that musical?

I will probably best remember the singing since I recognize how music connects with memories I hold from my own youth.

~*~*~

This post is part of a Blog Hop with the dynamic midlife women bloggers.

The thumbnails below will evaporate in a few weeks, so I'm saving a few links for future reference:

"S'more Summer Songs Not to Be Missed" by Phoebe aka @inmomopause

"Summer Songs and Afternoon Delight" by @Rodalena 

"Music can make you happy and healthy -- or not" by Kathy aka  @gottgreen  

"Do You Believe in Magic" by Risa aka @MsBarstool 

~*~*~

Travel Made Me Feel My Youth

Citadel of Acre

When I was in college, I was eager to learn as much about the world as possible, so I majored in English. This allowed me to read broadly.

But I didn't want to limit myself to the travel habits of Emily Dickinson, who insists, "There is no frigate like a book." I wanted to get out of the United States and experience other landscapes, other cultures.

I chose to spend part of my sophomore year studying in Jerusalem due to its significance to three of the major world religions.  Also, I was awed by how it had a much older history than London or Vienna.

So in January of 1982, I embarked on a six month travel study in Jerusalem with a group of nearly 100 other BYU students.

We lived primarily at Ramat Rachel--located at the most southern extreme of Jerusalem. But we traveled throughout the region.

Put Down the Book and Go Visiting

Photo by SP8254

Today I delivered an early birthday present to my friend Gladys, who will turn 102 at the end of this month. I gave her a book about the 1875 Chinatown wars in Los Angeles.  Gladys remembered her parents talking about this event plus the Tong wars in San Francisco, so she wanted to read this new book after seeing it reviewed in the local paper.

I told her that I didn't know much about these events, but I had recently finished The Buddha in the Attic and  the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which are very engaging novels about hardships endured by Japanese immigrants and their children. I shared with her what I learned about picture brides and the Japanese internment.

Gladys is an avid reader, but she replied, "Well, I haven't read either of those books, but I can tell you a little bit about my experience with the Japanese internment."