PSU Magazine Winter 1997

To all this anxiety about aging, the parents of the boomers cast a bemused smile. Wait and see, they say. For in another twist to his project, Morgan is also gathering insights about boomers from the generation that spawned them. 0 ne tremendous difference between the two generations is in how they view their re pective wars. Parents remember World War 11 as a proud moment when they helped ave the world from the forces of evil. boomers still feel tremendous emotional upheaval about the Vietnam War. The protests, the confusion over what was right, the unfaimes of the lottery draft. The war, ended for more than a quarter century, still lives for them, and for some the memories are raw. One focus group participant became so incensed by memories a quarter century old that he pounded the table with his fists. Both generations agree that family issues are more complicated today. Blended families, single parent fami– lies, dual-career families. The older generation i not judgmental, but they do believe that some of this increased complication is a result of choice boomers have made-choosing, for in tance, divorce over compromise. 10 PSU MAGAZINE WINTER I997 Increased choice i exactly what bo mers see when they compare themselves to their parents. Women, especially, say their mothers had far fewer options. For them, life's manual read: 1) work, 2) marriage, 3) kids. For boomer women, that triumvirate can be mixed in any order. One consequence, of course, is that social institutions have not caught up to the change . Try managing childcare, say boomers, if you don't believe that. To this point, delving into such topics with boomer has been the province of people with omething to sell. For marketer , boomers arc the bumper crop, and everyone wants to get in on the harve t. Morgan is look– ing at the big picture. "There' a po itive to be ought, not just negatives to be avoided," he says. "I'd like to learn what it means to be aging well, the positive possibilities that people want for themselves. Not how can we avoid the wor t scenario, but a clear image of the good life and how to attain it." Begun in mid-1994, Morgan's project is still taking shape. Hi first tep is to develop a list of questions, or a research agenda, to cover the breadth of the topic. One way he's doing that is by soliciting input via the Web (http://www. upa. pdx.edu/baby-boom/) . The initial focu groups, six to date, help refine what issues are on boomers' minds; any conclu ions drawn, Morgan stre ses, are strictly preliminary. That's why Morgan doe n't intend to stop anytime soon. He'll talk with boomer as they tum 55, 60, 65 and beyond-until, in fact, he retires. The idea for this magnum opus came to Morgan, a boomer himself, when he experienced his "oh-my-God-not– Harry" moment. "A a doctoral candidate," explains Morgan, "I studied retirement homes. I remember walking into one and asking myself, 'What would my grandparents think about living in a place like thi ?' A few years later I was back in retire– ment homes on another re earch project, and the question I asked my elf was, 'What would my parents think about living in a place like thi ?' Now I'm starting to realize it's not my grandparent , not my parents, it' my turn. My own retirement is about 20 years off, but it's not irrelevant for me to be asking do I want a Winnebago? Do I want to move to Eugene? Would I ever want to live in one of tho c retirement communities? Suddenly these are not just topics, they're deci– sions. It' like the first time you hear of someone you know who is about your age having a heart attack. You think, 'Oh my God-not Harry!' Becau e now you understand that it could happen to you." A s the first baby boomers began turning 50 in 1996, they started having their own oh-my-God– not-Harry moment . If it hasn't happened to you already, rest assured it will. At least you'll be in good company. Among the first boomers to tum the big Five-Oh were Patty Duke, Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Barry Manilow, Liza Minnelli, Dolly Parton, and Tricia Nixon Cox. But the boomer's bad boy extraordinaire, Mick Jagger, is not officially a member of the Pepsi Generation; the audacious, defiant Rolling Stone who could get no satis– faction is 53. Can you dig it? (Melissa Steineger, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "You'll find him at Freddy's," which appearing in the fall 1996 PSU Magazine.)