The space between then and now

As is the case for members of every generation, they age.  The
boomer generation with their propensity for nostalgia is particularly
struggling with this reality.  They still want to play pick up
basketball, swoosh down the ski slope, or sache on the dance floor, but
they are  discovering their knees don't quite take the impact anymore. 
There has been many reminders recently of their mortality, creating an
exploration into the significance of their legacy.

Not that there have been any more celebrity deaths than usual, but
this years "crop" has been especially poignant for boomers,
representatives of legacies who defined them as a tribe.

One after another they are dying:

• Michael Jackson
• Farrah Fawcett
• Ed McMahon
• John Hughes
• Ted Kennedy
• Patrick Swayze
• Walter Cronkite
• Les Paul, and
• Ellie Greenwich

These deaths created a sense of both the expansion and compression
of time – living between then and now.  As the largest generation (78
million), this is the first time so many have simultaneously had an
awareness of death and the prospect of a whole new act. Marc Feedman of
Civic Ventures states that, "Never before have there been so many
people who have so much more experience and the time left to do
something with it".

Boomers are now up at the plate and not on deck, creating a sense of urgency in their lives.  For them it is time to press on by passing on. Passing on what, exactly?

If you are boomer (born between 1946 and 1964), I'll leave that up to you…