Change

Today is the day we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the day before our nation inaugurates Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th president of the United States. Though I’m a registered Republican, I consider myself a Moderate. I voted for Mr. Obama, first in the Texas primary and again in the national election. So why would I feel a little blue today?

For the first time since learning that I was a baby boomer, and about the corresponding political and economic clout associated with that demographic, I feel “over the hill.” On Morning Joe today, Tom Brokaw, Pat Buchanan, Peggy Noonan and others discussed the idea that Mr. Obama’s election heralded the end of the baby boomer’s time of power in politics. They talked about what we baby boomers have experienced and how that has shaped our political views. And they said we’ve turned a page and things will be different from now on.

Barack Obama, born August 4, 1961, was a young boy during the race riots and war protests that helped shape my generation’s thinking and beliefs. He didn’t have to go to Vietnam or send his brother, father, or son there. Our last two presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, are baby boomers. I voted for each of them. Consider the acrimony and divisiveness in our nation’s politics for the past 16 years while our country was guided by these two very different leaders.

Hearing that my generation’s political influence may be waning makes me feel the world is spinning too fast for me. If, like me, you’ve been around awhile, you’ve already experienced incredible changes and most likely some overwhelming losses in your life. At age 60, rapid change makes me feel like time is running short and fast. Just when I’m not quite so rapidly adaptable anymore, the next generation is starting to pick up speed.

Just like with the Internet, email, cell phones, and texting, I’ll be scrambling to catch on and keep up. And just as these innovations have made our lives better, hopefully the new politics will bring good changes and a better world.

“For the times they are a-changin’”. . . Bob Dylan

Donna