What I Learned from People Magazine

I think it was the first week of November that I received a People magazine in the mail.  It was one of those trapped in a plastic wrapper with an enclosed envelope that contained all the info on how one could subscribe.  I confess that I threw out the envelope part.  Magazines are wasted on me -- I subscribe and then never read them and wonder why I subscribed in the first place.  Anyway ... 

Diane Keaton was on the cover (I am going to miss her),  and I wanted to read the article about her, so I saved the mag and just got to it this morning. While looking through page by page I discovered some interesting things.  One is that I have no idea of who the "stars" of today are and surprising to me -- the stars of my generation are now old.  I sort of wanted them to stay the same age forever I guess.  It was shocking really -- I picture them in my head as they looked years ago and am, for some reason. surprised that they got older too.   I do know better than that but .... Then again ... I am still a fan of black and white movies.  No apologies.

Seriously -- Fonzie celebrated his 80th birthday the day before Halloween.  Richard Gere is my age and looks it ...  and ... Tiger Woods is almost 50.  Clint Eastwood has a daughter who is in her thirties and Paul Newman's daughter is just four years younger than I am.   John Lodge of the Moody Blues passed away recently at the age of 82. I know that time moves on, but guess I didn't think it was the same for everyone --    I mean -- I can still see Timmy and Lassie in my mind -- clear as day.

One more confession.  I would not recognize Taylor Swift, Sarah McLachlan, or Jennifer Lopez if I stood behind them at the Grocery Store on a slow checkout day, but if I close my eyes, I can see Janis Joplin perfectly --  and hear her voice.  The passage of time is weird.

One other thing I noticed is that I don't care a lot about certain current events that People obviously deems to be important.  Apparently someone named Katy Perry is making out on her yacht with Justin Trudeau (him I have heard about), and ... Brad Pitt, a graying 61, is living with someone who is 35. The story of Kathy Griffin is still sad and continues to be no matter how funny she thinks she is. I don't want to read about her any more.

Does any of this seem strange to others of my vintage? 

Guess that's all for now. I have had enough of People magazine for a while and again -- I am going to miss Diane Keaton ....    

Q-tips and Sturdy Poles

Received an email from a good friend of mine the other day, who among many other good things, is also a fantastic writer.  In this particular email, she was writing about the passage of time.  Children grow up and have children.  Grandchildren grow as fast as weeds, etc. Times change ... no one can keep up with technology.  She used the analogy of hanging onto a pole in a stiff wind as one works his/her way through a lifetime journey and then looks back on a lifetime of memories.  It's true.  In looking back, it seems like a blur of living in some ways and then all of a sudden you are member of the elder community with an assortment of memories ... if you are fortunate enough to have lived that long.

Just a few weeks ago, now, I had the pleasure of sharing some time with former classmates.  I joked about being referred to as a Q-tip and how I was going to adopt and embrace that term to refer to myself. Apparently Q-tip is now being used in reference to a white haired person.  It is used (hopefully) in a sort of humorous and light mockery.  Turn that mockery around.  I love that tag..  I earned every strand of white hair and am sort of proud of each lesson they show. I struggled to learn some of them ... failed to learn others ... definitely have more to learn, but am not sure my hair can get any whiter. I am a Q-tip supreme. Others of the white hair group joined in with a refreshing kind of laughter.  It was a unique moment of comradery and support. Time marches on....  quickly.  It's nice to know sometimes that you are not alone in the journey. What a lovely bunch of people the Corry Area High School Class of '67 are  -- whether or not they are Q-tips. Some do not embrace the white hair thing and that is okay too. Others have no hair, so it is a moot point.

It is also important to know that hanging on to a pole in the wind is much preferable to hanging on by a thread ...  although ... at times, off and on, the two do not seem necessarily to be totally mutually exclusive.  A good sense of humor is a gift at such times.  So is a positive attitude.  I saw a lot of both at the gathering with the CAHS Class of '67.  Go Beavers! 

Fond Memories

When I was a child my family used to travel from NW Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia area at least once a year to visit family there.  We traveled diagonally across almost the entire commonwealth on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, aka America's First Super Highway. The first section of this toll road (turnpike) was actually opened just nine years before I was born and... eventually it had seven tunnels between my house and my grandmother's.  I found it all rather amazing, but I also remember the tunnels as stinky, dark and sort of scary. I understand at least one reason why people try to hold their breath in tunnels. Anyway -- the tunnels brought together both directions of traffic into a single lane in each direction. Don't know if it is still that way. I do know that several changes have been made over the years.  Anyway -- the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel" has always had special meaning for me.  

As the years passed by though -- cross commonwealth carsickness tempered the excitement of travel.  The only thing that saved me was the sight of an orange roof.  Howard Johnson's.  The best restaurant ever.  The best ice cream ever.  28 flavors!  We would stop for one meal along the way.  For me it was always "Grilled Frankforts and Boston Baked Beans with Brown Bread" which, by the way,  cost under a dollar. (I ran across an old menu on eBay recently so I know this is accurate.) My big sister had more expensive tastes in food -- always preferring to order the "Crispy Fried Chicken dinner for a little over $2.00.  It came with cranberry sauce, French fries and coleslaw.  Makes my mouth water to even remember. My dad used to grumble that the chicken would take a half an hour, but always let her order it anyway.  I think the grumble was part of his "Dad" routine. 

All the Howard Johnson restaurants are gone now.  I think the last one was in Lake George, NY.  It was sold and closed in 2023.  Odd thing -- I used to live about 12 miles from Lake George and I never knew that there was a Howard Johnson restaurant there.  Drat.  However... the  childhood HoJo memories remain.... a favorite meal and an ice cream cone on the way out to eat in the car.  Nice. I will just hang on to those small bits of childhood ....  No harm in that.