In her lifetime . . .

1969 was the year in which I graduated from 8th grade and in the fall started high school.

Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th president that year.

In July, the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. walk on the moon.

The World Trade Center had not yet been built.

August saw more than half a million people gather in the small upstate town of Bethel,  New York (near Woodstock, NY).Performers include Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jefferson Airplane and Sly and the Family Stone.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was THE movie to see. Through the lens of my 14-year-old self,  Paul Newman‘s eyes might as well have been a subplot. 😉

ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) goes online in December,
connecting four major US universities. Designed for research,
education, and government organizations, it is the foundation upon
which the Internet will eventually be built.

Children’s Television Workshop introduces Sesame Street.

A U.S. postage stamp cost $.06 cents.

A 45 was a small record.

There was still hope for the Beatles to get back together.

We rented phones from A.T. & T.

We were still listening to vinyl  lp’s.

AIDS only came after the word BAND.

Lucy graduates this week. The world she is going into is so very different than the one I faced in 1969.

The year she was born, George Bush was the 41st president. Today, his son, George W. Bush is the 43rd president.

NASA grounded all space shuttles last year after the Discovery had similar problems to the ones that caused the Columbia disaster.

There is a hole where the World Trade Center once stood. The world’s largest building is the Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

Last year we saw The Who and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in concerts. (the boomer audience could not have afforded concerts at today’s prices)

In her lifetime. . .

Iraq has always been a problem.

Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.

"Ctrl + Alt + Del" is as basic as "ABC."

Bert and Ernie are old enough to be her parents.

Today a postage stamp costs $.41 cents.

A 45 is a gun.

"You mean Paul McCartney had a band before Wings??" 😉

Cell phones have always existed.

She has never owned a record player and has never heard of an 8-track.

Her lifetime has always included AIDS.

In spite of all this, I look forward to her future.  She is bright and caring and smart as a whip. She is secure in who she is and what she wants to do.

At her age, I was still naive, optimistic and hopeful. She is savvy, confident . . . and hopeful.

I have always been an artist, she has always been a writer.

I pray for her constantly, as I do for all four of my kids. I pray for God’s protection over her life. I pray she will continue to learn and grow. I pray for the world she and her generation are inheriting.

I pray she will know her Creator.

Because she is my daughter, she has a very Cuban side also. She knows the significance of "90 miles."  She knows who Ché is and why we don’t like him. She recognizes music by Miguel Matamoros, Beny Moré, and Willy Chirino. She can make arroz con pollo.  She can quote Jose Marti, and she’ll be looking stylish and beautiful in the gorgeous guayabera dress we got her in Miami for graduation. (thank you, Maggie!)

And selfishly, I pray that in her lifetime, hers will be the generation who will definitely see a free Cuba. 😉