Baby Boomers

Santa Fe is especially good for women of a certain age. I would absolutely not want to be a young person here. I had the wondrous good luck to have my youth in the Washington, DC area. Before AIDS, I should add.

Anyway, I also looked at Portland, OR, before I came here. And I'm doubly glad I didn't go there. First, because Santa Fe has worked out quite well for me, and secondly, had I gone there, my younger son would NEVER have considered it himself. We do get along quite well, but he would never have made the move from Kansas 1500 miles to be again in the same city with his mom.

Most people wind up where they are by default. They grew up there. Or the job was there. Very rarely do people get to decide where they want to live, completely on their own, no job or other considerations. Recently I had a conversation with the son who lives in Portland about this. He is so very happy there. He earns his living delivering pizza. The important thing is that he's earning his living. If he were to ask me for money I'd say, "Get a better job." But he's managing quite well. He plays Ultimate Frisbee and does stand-up at the local comedy clubs.

What can any of us hope for but to be supporting ourselves and happy in what we do? Personally, I've NEVER had a job I've loved. It's always been a job, a way to earn a living. Right now I have the incredible good fortune to be able to manage on just a part time job (with benefits, which is huge I know) which is singularly undemanding. I have choices, which isn't that common. But I honestly think that a lot of other people, if they were to be totally honest, would realize that they too have choices.