And They Seemed Old to Me Then

It's funny how our point of view changes as we age.  FaceBook (tm) just reminded me of a photo I think Wifey had posted -- my parents and I back in Winter of '79.  It shows us standing in my parents' condo, in Delray, before we left for dinner.  It may have been New Year's Eve.

I was a dweeby college freshman home from UM for the Xmas break.  My girlfriend Alison, then still a high school senior, flew down from LI.  I think she took the picture.  I was wearing a spiffy suede tie, quite narrow, with a beige blazer, and my Dad had a green plaid blazer.  The photo was in front of the new china cabinet Mom bought when she moved to South Florida -- I hope it's now in the Laminate Museum somewhere...

The photo is 37 years in the past.  First, of course, it reminds me how much I miss my parents, especially my Dad.  I adored and worshiped him.  What he found funny, I found hilarious.  He was a Greatest Generation guy, and I a late Baby Boomer, but we always saw eye to eye.  In many ways, he was more Liberal than I was -- even though he worked three jobs when he returned from WW II, to support his family.  He was still delightfully politically incorrect, with a Liberal heart.  I remember once, when he was still working, Mom asked him to take the day off -- it was lovely Spring weather.  "Sunny -- I can't," he said.  "I work to support at least 9 Puerto Ricans who won't work, you know.  They depend on me too."  Dad never ran for office.

Anyway, I also remember thinking, at the time, my parents were OLD.  They were 60 and 59, but to the college freshman, that was senior citizen.  Wifey's about to be older than my Dad was in the photo.  Caramba!

Wifey and I certainly don't consider ourselves old, even though I hear noises when I bend over to pick something I dropped.  Hell -- we went to a Little Haiti bar a few weeks ago, to hear an awesome blues musician.

Dr. Barry gets in a new crop of pediatricians in training each summer.  Sometimes I meet them.  They're typically 26 or so.  When we meet, my mind still tells me I'm their contemporary -- hey -- I lived with Eric, a med student, so I get them, right?  The problem is Eric and I lived together 34 years ago.

The young docs in training look at Barry and me as fathers.  Pretty soon it'll be like GRANDfathers...

The other night, friends Stu and Vince and I were at Captain's Tavern -- they had attended a judicial fundraiser in Datran.  Stu recognized an older PI lawyer he knew.  I'll call him Gary, since that's his name.  He was with a younger, attractive woman.  I assumed it was his daughter.  It was his wife.

Turns out Gary married late, like Stu did.  He's 25 years his wife's senior.  They have, I think, high school aged kids.  Gary looks his age -- late 60s or early 70s.  I wonder if his kids think they have an ancient Dad.

Still, it's nice to see the point of view change.  The kid in the FB photo was a kid.  He thought he knew a lot, at 19 or so.  As "Rug Rats'" Angela used to say -- "you babies don't know nothin'!"

So at least this 56.5 year old man can look back on his 19 year old self with more wisdom.  And the memories are warm from this point of view.