There is a quiet satisfaction in tackling a new passion requiring much new learning with a very old brain that learns more slowly, requiring more repetition to retain new information. And so I have felt quiet satisfaction in publishing two pretty good books since turning 80. The first, “The Occasional Man” paid homage to the man who shared his world of travel and adventure with me until the day he died, and “The Marginal Woman””, my life story, that has opened new worlds for me to explore. But am I the Grandma Moses of memoirs? Still waiting for that request from Charlie Rose for an interview or finally settling on at least becoming well known in Minnesota, I now would settle to just be known by the folks on my street. It is satisfying at how exploring my life story has revealed new insights into how I came to be the ‘me’ I now am as well as learning much more about generational differences and how they affect the way we live and learn together.
Such has been the surprise of “The Marginal Woman:” I thought I was writing a simple autobiography and so far it has provided me at least four other topics to explore that I have used at talks: 1) the evolving feminist movement, 2) the generational gap and how it affects family dynamics, 3) how one’s religion or lack of one affects one’s views on human events, and finally 4) how change, such as the internet, with its ever changing I Phones, apps and robotics often appear to be a drive that will eventually ‘have its way’ in spite of forces pitted against it. After all, I’m still determined to master the use of my various gadgets such as my Apple computer and I Pad. It would help If only a 12 year old lived on my block. Good days for me are when all my gadgets work!