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GROWING UP NEVER STOPS

March 30, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Remember the promise about growing up? “You’ll understand when you grow up.” “Things will be different when you grow up.” Now that you’re all grown up, how’s it going?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, family, golden rule, grow up, growing up, grown up, history, Love, MARRIAGE, older, promises, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

AGING FEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

February 18, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Aging fear kicks in when you start wondering about tomorrow. Will you be there for it? Why wouldn’t you? Oh, that’s why.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, aging fear, America, average, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, basketball, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, coach, dismissive, education, Fat, fear, football, good grandpa, high school, history, kids, learning, old man, old men, ordinary, seniors, soccer, sports, step up, story, teams, wife, wrestling, writer, writing

CHILDHOOD ENDING LEADS TO BLURRED LINES

February 17, 2026 by David Gillaspie

A childhood ending comes in several varieties. The people you meet in early childhood often signal the end later. It might be a parent, a teacher, or the latest bully on the block. All of them are the problem, beginning with parents.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, amnesia, angry old men, answers, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, blurred line, blurred lines, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, childhood, childhood ending, dreams die, education, first time, learning, normalcy, old man, old men, roofied, spanish, story, writer, writing

LIFE LESSONS START EARLY FOR OLD MEN

November 19, 2025 by David Gillaspie

As a middle child myself for fourteen years, life lessons were important. We learned early to share with smaller kids, and not whine too much when older kids didn’t. Was there a learning curve? There’s always a learning curve when learning is involved. It’s not for everyone, to say the least, but . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, family, fitness, history, kids, learning, lesson, lessons, life, life lesson, life lessons, MARRIAGE, married, men, millennials, North Bend, old men, women, writer, writing

LONELY PEOPLE: FROM HEMINGWAY TO AMERICA

October 27, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The answer: lonely people. The question: What does the band America have in common with Ernest Hemingway? Their bond comes from both ends of male adulthood, young man to old man. One sang about them, the other wrote about them. By now baby boomers are both.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adulthood, aging, America, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Cat Stevens, Ernest Hemingway, family, future, GUITAR, history, loneliness, lonely, lonely people, mistake, neil young, old man, relationship, travel, writer, writing, wrong thinking

YOUNG OLD VS OLD OLD, THE JOY OF AGING

September 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Young Old: Spry, active, ready to show how young. My Grandpa showed off his new knee by doing one legged step ups on a low rock wall, his knee at a right angle, then up. He invited me to give it a try. I was in my forties. It was harder for me than him. […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, alcohol, blacking out, blessings, cognitive test, confused, crazy people, disoriented, dropping weight, due process, failure, fairness, fitness, golden rule, good advice, haunting losses, healing sleep, joy, joy of aging, loved ones, millennials, old granddad, old-old, overcome, seek counseling, slowing down, wins, young-old

LIFE LONG LEARNING STARTS WITH A CALL

July 8, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Life long learning doesn’t end with the last school day, the last class, the last good-bye. It doesn’t end with a diploma, a certificate, or a license. Those indicate the culmination of a training sequence, but the learning is just starting. Now you find out what you need to know, which is . . . […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Afghanistan war, aging, baby boomer, BOOMER, business, city, etiquette, feelings, felon, helpful advice, high school, improvement, learning, life, life long, life long learning, livability, manners, message, North Bend, small town, turkey neck, Vietnam War, young people

AGING TRAVEL WITH GRANDY

July 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Aging travel with 70 and 80 year olds is getting some attention. How hard it is, how easy it used to be, and how it feels losing the magic of new places. How do you manage it when you’re in your 60’s and your mother in law in her 80’s. The short version: if they […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adventure, aging, aging travel, Arizona, Europe, grande, great britain, international travelers, kids, lifetime memory, travel, wife, WWII

BOOMER CONFUSION RIPE FOR HARVEST

April 23, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Boomer confusion is rampant, just ask. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, until it’s everything all of the time. One think I like to remind myself about: Golden eggs do not come from a goose.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blaming, blog, blogger, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomer confusion, boomers, common ground, complaining, education, history, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, whining, writer, writing

SUN SCREEN? “BUT IT’S SO MESSY.” SO IS SKIN CANCER

December 23, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Do you think sun screen is messy? Too runny, too pasty, too this, too that. Besides, you life in a rain shadow under cloudy skies. What do you need sun screen for?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, Baby Boomers, biopsy, boomers, cancer treatment, dermatologist, doctor, geezers, health, insurance, medical, medicine, mohs surgery, pretty boy, skin cancer, skin exams, sun screen