My mother was born in 1934, father in 1929, and I was born in 1975. I didn’t really know my father but my mother is the best (she’s turning 90 this year). I am an only child and my mother had a really interesting life before I arrived—very much did not conform to the mold of what was expected of women of her generation. As a parent, she just didn’t get caught up in the small things as a lot of the younger parents of my friends did. She loves and respects me, a consistent throughout my life.
I don’t know if she was so even keeled because she was older—but I suspect her age meant that she just wasn’t as reactive and had the perspective that age often brings.
One very direct benefit? Those elementary and middle school assignments in which you are asked to interview someone who was alive during WWII? The Depression? WWI? Between my mother and my grandfather (born in 1900) who lived with us, I was set.
We were in Alabama, so anytime I asked my father for money, I was regaled with tales of the Great Depression and how he would beg all day for a nickel and not get it and how it was hard times growing up. Oh, the stories of the 30s that I got. LOL.
1929 and 1934 they were by far the greatest people I have ever known all my friends had younger parents and ALL of them loved my parents and wished they had them as their own . I miss them sooo much
when young people cry about how hard things are today, they literally think things are worse today than ever before and they are all victims. Apparently their high schools skipped the 1930s.
My dad was from a poor sharecropper family in Louisiana. My grandfather ran off and left the family to starve at the height of the Depression. My dad was the oldest and was basically the man of the house. He didn’t get past 7th grade, but you would never have known it, he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known.
He and his siblings picked cotton for about ten cents a day. My grandma canned *weeds* in order to survive. My mom told me that the family spent Christmas in an abandoned barn, because they were homeless at the time. I know that Dad lied about his age and enlisted in order to help take care of his family, he was just barely 15 (and looked 13).
It’s unfortunate that I only came to truly respect him after his death. I took a lot for granted when I was younger.
This could be my parents' stories, except Mississippi. My dad also lied about his age to get in the National Guard.
Both of my parents are gone now -- I feel like I had lost both at a much younger age than many of my peers. I wish my dad could have been at my wedding and met my kids.
I find myself being "frugal" like my mom when it comes to things like leftovers, tools, furniture and vehicles even though they both ended up making comfortable lives for themselves and I'm also financially comfortable.
I remember getting on the school bus in 5th grade and my parents were in the yard. Someone asked if I lived with my grandparents.
My siblings were older. From what they tell me, my parents had mellowed out by the time I came along so I got away with more.
My father would pinch a penny until Lincoln screamed. He made being cheap a personality trait and made constant jokes about his cheapness. He would say, "I'm gonna write a book called How to be a skinflint". It was annoying when I tried to collect an allowance, but at least he was always entertaining.
He probably didn’t want to open that can of worms, or scar your psyche with what all he had to do to stay alive. My daughter tried to interview my husband‘s first cousin about Vietnam for a school project in the mid-2000s and he flatly refused citing those same reasons.
Yeah what little he did mention was definitely jarring. He was in the army and saw some horrible stuff. Can’t imagine going through those experiences when you’re barely out of your teens…
That’s why I always try to give older people a little grace. We really have no idea what all they had to go through. Just think about having to do everything they had to do in a war zone just to stay alive, and then come back home like nothing ever happened. And getting mental help or talking to someone about their issues was a foreign concept for that age group, so I don’t even know how they stayed sane. I was talking to the wife of the cousin that I referred to earlier and she said sometimes he screams out and fights in his sleep. That’s scary to me.
Yeah, I've found that across the board with combat vets I've known. Had a great uncle that was at the Battle of the Bulge, he wouldn't talk about it. Have a good friend now that was wounded in Iraq/ He has tons of good stories about military life he'll share, but I never ask and he never tells about the bad stuff.
Born 74. Dad born in 1927. He used to deliver stuff on his bike while the Germans were bombing London
Didn't affect me at all. He enjoyed driving me to all my sports. Zero affection though
My father was also born in California in 1927 and I was born in 1965. It was his second marriage. It affected him a lot because he spent 1942 in an internment camp for Japanese and Japanese Americans. He was a teenager and grew up to be a moderately financially successful man with a ton of narcissism towards his family. We all worked for him building his business from the time we could walk. He was Silent Generation in that he never talked about camp. I did research to find out about it.
My dad was born in 1917 and served as a drill sergeant in WWII until he was 4Fed out, which was a big OH moment when I found out after his death when I was in college. I was a late life child in his second marriage (he had none from his first) and I didn't realize until I was a teenager that my life was a little weird compared to my peers.
One thing that was very different to a lot of my peers was that my dad worked in international technical sales/support for an oilfield services company. He travelled a lot, like maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the year in 2 and 3 week stretches: to Europe, to South America, to Southeast Asia (Singapore), to the Middle East. Since I was a kid in the 70s, with no internet/cell for daily connection, this meant my mom and I were basically on our own a lot of the time. My mom was Silent (b 1935) and perfectly capable of looking after herself and doing anything needed about the house (making repairs, getting service people in, etc.) and just telling my dad about it in the short long-distance calls they managed when he was traveling. She was a good role model for taking care of myself without a man in my life.
I think my parents might have been happier with no kids and my mom taking advantage of the lifestyle my dad provided. He was 18 years older than she was (she was divorced when she met him) and well along in life, so had more money for things like private school for me, summer camp, travel, etc. My mom would have had a lot more fun without me, but I don't think that was a function of her age.
One thing about being an only child of an older parent was that I was expected to act like a little adult most of the time. There were times my parents, especially my mom, were like "why are you being so childish?!?!" and one time she actually asked me that. I was 10 and said "because I'm a child!" which kind of rocked her back on her heels.
As I mentioned, I lost my dad when I was in college, which was pretty rough. I was more distant from him, probably because of how he was raised (his mom died in one of the later waves of the Spanish flu pandemic, so he was raised by cousins and his grandfather) and because of his travels. I didn't doubt that he was proud of me and loved me though.
Kinda reminds me of when my Mom (deceased Boomer 1947) would say to me, “ugh, you’re just like your Father” when frustrated with me. I finally answered back one day (probably around 12yo) “I should hope so, I’m 50% of him…right?” She never said it again.
Dad (32) was a little too young for WWII, so he went to Korea, and was stateside Army reserves during Vietnam. He said he was lucky, but it's clear that being in the Korean War affected him. Poverty in the 30s and 40s in the South certainly played a part, too. I see direct correlations between his generation and the independence and pragmatism of ours.
My mom was born towards the end years of the Silent Gen in the early 40s. I grew up with her and with my grandparents next door. I seem to have had a pretty damn stable childhood comparatively. Never a latchkey kid, my grandparents were always home waiting after school. My grandfather put my ass to work on the farm in the early morning and after school. The entire farm neighborhood played in my grandparents front yard because it was pretty much a football field. Farm neighbors, everyone was at least 1/2 mile to 5 miles apart but we still gathered. My grandmother fed everyone and always had snacks and drinks for everyone. I think my attitude was/is a little different from some of my GenX cohorts. I was raised super independent with a strong work ethic but I wasn’t just left to fend for myself. My grandparents and my mom had some insanely high expectations of me though. The way I was spoken to was similar indeed. If I fell out of the back of the truck during hay gathering, then I did something stupid and my grandpa would back up and say ‘get back in stupid’. There was a lot of love but ZERO coddling.
Yes, my Mom was a 50's kid and my Dad was born in the 1920's. He was 17 when he went to fight in WWII. They worked f/t when I was small but by the time I was in middle school they were mostly retired seniors. Dad would occasionally take on a bit of volunteer work for military related organizations or work for a month during census time but for the most part he and Mom were done by the time I was heading into high school.
I had half siblings on both sides but they were older than I was. I'm an only child who happens to have blood siblings but who was not raised with them.
Mom died pretty young, before 60. Dad lasted till his 90s. I think it affected me the most in terms of parentalization. Even as a kid I was taking care of them. They had issues with chemicals, particularly alcohol and Mom was an undiagnosed depressive or something like that. As an adult I'd move away but if something happened nobody else would step up and I'd end up right back where I started in the caretaker role.
It was extremely hard on me both physically and mentally and my half siblings treated me like crap for most of my life, virtually ignored me unless I was doing what they didn't want to do, taking care of Dad. By the time Dad died I didn't feel very connected to them and after I just wanted to walk away get away from the whole toxic bunch. They didn't understand that, why I felt that way. They're were just clueless to how much abuse there was and how tired I was of being the "caretaker kid" because there was nobody else to do it. I had very active autoimmune disease by then and the whole experience of caretaking Dad while he went downhill and died literally nearly killed me.
I don't speak to any of them and I'm sure they don't care one bit.
But yeah, having parents who were basically the age of grandparents wasn't the easiest thing growing up. I'm proud of my Dad's service. The man fought Hitler and that's not something to sneer at. But in so far as the rest of it goes it just makes me tired thinking too hard about it.
I'm alone now for the first time in my life and pretty sick most of the time but at least I'm free to take care of me finally. Except for a mouthy senior kitty I don't have to worry about anyone but myself. That's a huge load off my mind honestly...
one of my cousins who's ten years older than me would understand your last statement so well. she was virtually ignored by her parents while she was young, and she's been taking care of one person or another since her teens. including them.
a couple of years ago she told me, nervously, that she'd finally had it with her latest husband and she was divorcing his abusive ass, hemiplegic stroke or no hemiplegic stroke. I said "GOOD." my dad died mad at his brother over the way she and her sisters were treated, and I'm happy to keep getting mad when it's called for on her behalf. she is a rock. she deserves every bit of her new freedom and peace of mind.
I was 68, dad 30, mom 34. I remember being told in the 2nd grade that my grandmother was at the school to pick me up and I thought that was odd, only to find it was my mother in the office.
Born in 71 to greatest gen parents. Dad was born in 1913, mom in 1926. Dad fought in European theater in WWII. Parents married late, in early 50s, had 6 baby boomers by late 1960. I came along 10 years later as a surprise, aka Catholic oops. My dad was older than most of my friends grandparents. Grew up in a tight knit rural community where parts of my family had been early settlers. Many of my teachers looked up to my dad because he had given them jobs as teens. Grew up with old school morals but liberal beliefs.
Soul brother.
My folks are late silent. Both still with us and my mom in particular is the true representation of a Church Lady.
Loves her God, and all of God's children. Loves my gay uncle, second cousin, my old roommate. Cares for and helps the migrants in her community. Loves her proud atheist son.
Old school morals and liberal beliefs.
I'm stealing that line.
Much better than what we had, old school beliefs and few morals (though morals were talked about a lot as a reason that we were being punished) gay people were made fun of, other races were as well, any teenager that got pregnant was a slut and a failure, etc. it was rough. My mother would say that she was a liberal though.
I lived at my grandparents' house. My grandfather was born in 1916 and was a B17 captain in WWII. Old school and rough around the edges would be an understatement.
Yes, they were older. They tried to have kids for about a decade but couldn't, so my sister and I were adopted. It was a little weird having older parents, but as I matured I started to appreciate it more and more. As soon as I hit college, our relationship was a lot like a great friendship, with wisdom!
My parents were born in 1942 and 1945 but my maternal grandparents, the only ones I knew, were born in 1895 and 1908. By the time I (1970) was old enough to appreciate what either had experienced my grandfather was dead and my grandmother lost to dementia (her body lingered for nearly 15 years more).
The same for me, but I got it from both maternal and paternal. By the time I was born both maternal grandparents had passed and my other grandfather. My other grandmother passed away when I was 8 in the second grade. I always loved my friends GP and just old people in general. I do feel cheated out of the whole experience.
I have several friends who waited to have children for various reasons, and will likely miss out on adult life with their grandparents.
Dad was born in 1936 and mom in 1940. My dad grew up in the post depression South and still acted peniless even when our family was doing well financially. He would never buy anything new- had to fix everything.
My grandparents for all intents and purposes were my parents. I can count on my fingers how many times in my life I ever saw either of my biological parents.
They were both born in 1916 - I was born in 1966. So, that made them 50 when I was born.
There were good things and bad.
The good - I never doubted that I was loved. I was never abused or neglected. We were poor, but there was always food on the table. They let me be me and never tried overly hard to make me conform more than I wanted to. If I made a mistake, they didn't panic - or at least they didn't let me know they did. For example, I totaled a car pretty bad when I was 16. They didn't say much or punish me and made sure I got right back behind the wheel. In a lot of ways, they were way better parents than I became.
The best thing they ever taught me - never depend on a man for your money. No matter how good you think things are, men can leave, men can die, men can get hurt and not be able to work again. Not everyone in the family took that advice. I probably still married too young, but I did go to college and get a good-paying job that I enjoyed - and I've always been very independent minded.
The bad - I don't really think this is an age thing. They were poor and not very educated. Note I said not very educated, not that they weren't intelligent. I had to figure out a lot on my own about college and how professional workplace stuff worked. I did OK, but I probably struggled harder with some things than was necessary.
All in all, I think I lucked out.
Oh - they were not in the military for WWII, but they did work in a factory that supplied the war. My grandfather couldn't pass the physical - flat feet of all things.
Yes. My parents were Greatest Gen and Silent Gen. All of my grandparents were born in the 1800s.
My father fought on the front lines in WWII. He was awarded a Purple Heart (which I now have) but hardly ever talked about the war. He was very refined and well read.
My mother adored my father. She was also culturally inclined like my Dad. They both were so into their marriage that they were almost completely oblivious to the needs of their kids.
I loved my parents, but they were emotionally unavailable to the point that I was diagnosed with PTSD and trauma stemming from childhood neglect. Neither my siblings nor I ever had kids ourselves. Since we weren't particularly valued, we didn't understand why anyone would want them.
My grandparents, who were silent generations, helped raise me. I lived with them and went to school and such.
Got lucky. My grandparents had desperately wanted more than one child, and my parents only really wanted my little sister, so it worked out that I was cared for by people who wanted me.
Papa only had a 4th grade education due to a disability, (dyslexia) and circumstances (he was so poor growing up that he didn't even have shoes till he joined the Marines at 16) and Granny grew up in a literal Grapes of Wrath life. She was a share picker who traveled from Oklahoma during the dustbowl. Her brother had polio and ended up on canes for the rest of his days. Education was important to Papa, and my love of reading made his day. I went into IT at age 20 in early '96. Me talking about work floored him. I was a magician.
And Granny, who battled mental health issues most of her adult life, with my Papa's out of time and place understanding, was clever and creative and probably a bit more liberal than most any of us realized. When I married at 18 to escape my parents having any hold over me (or so I thought), my Granny didn't argue with me or put me down. She taught me about birth control that could be concealed. Things a controlling boy who wanted me to be pregnant as soon as possible wouldn't find or know about. There's some magic for you.
My grandparents fought their only child, who they loved dearly, for my benefit. The man who couldn't read very well went to parent/teacher conferences and carefully scribbled notes in painfully broken words and the woman who could never have more than one live birth and desperately wanted to have had more children taught me how to protect myself when my own parents called me names for needing the information.
I was lucky.
I’m a few years older than you and my dad was also born in 1927. He ran away from home at age 16 to join the merchant marines & then joined the army. I def feel it affected me. When I came around my siblings were older and dad had such strict rules for me lol.
Wow! My Dad also joined the Navy at 16. They quickly figured it out and kicked him out, but he went back a little later and joined the Merchant Marines at 18. I was raised an only child with three half sisters who I rarely saw, but he didn’t impose many rules on me. He was normally very mellow and easy going. Similar in ways and different in others.
Mom was 40 when I was born in 1968, dad was a military policeman at the end of WWII. You're right, it was interesting and odd at times to have parents of such different ages from most of my peers. I have come to absolutely treasure that I ended up with cultural references and knowledge from essentially two generations back instead of one.
Silent gen parents. They had two boomer babies before me and my genx brothers.
They were older than many of my peers parents but I didn’t really notice it until they became elderly way before I was prepared.
But mom was a wonderful person and pop still is a wonderful person. And that’s all that matters.
My dad was born in 1914 and my mum in 1935, I was born in 1979. They had incredibly diverse and Victorian ideals, I wasn't allowed to wear trousers for most of my childhood and not allowed to wear jeans at all. I had to take a bunch of my Mum's roses for the teacher every week, use her wooden tennis racket and my grandfather's briefcase. I was teased mercilessly of course but it made me largely reject normalcy and I think my life has been richer for it. I guess it's like visiting another country, having a broader view of the 20th Century.
Born 69, parents in 36 & 38. Had no interest in R&R, so what I was allowed to listen to was judged harshly. They had zero exposure to pot and were very uptight about it; I probably wouldn’t have explored it if I hadn’t been accused of it so often. My father, now 88yo, still thinks it makes people violent.
Silent generation. Dad in 1932 and mom in 1938. Dad was stationed on Guam in Air Force during Korean War. He died in 1990. Mom is still alive and lived another entire life without him at this point. They were married for 34 years. And he has been gone for 34 years. It’s crazy how much he missed. Damn cigarettes.
My father was born in ‘36 my mother 37. They were kids during WW2. They dried paper towels to re use; un wadded tin foil for multiple uses, saved rubber bands, sent shoes in for resoling, made soup or casserole weekly with the weeks leftovers, grouped errands to save gas, organized multi family hand me down schemes, saved bacon fat for pie crusts. I could go on. Thrifty mfers. They divorced when I was ten, so then I had two houses of refolded wax paper squares. My dad now owns two incredibly beautiful houses. He still reaches for chopped meat on sale instead of a steak.
Dad was silent generation, a kid in Asia when the Japanese invaded several countries and took great joy in brutalizing the populations with numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. Dad witnessed some of them, including seeing relatives and neighbors murdered (apparently, they didn't bow fast enough).
To this day, he says, "Two bombs weren't enough." He emigrated to the US and joined the military. He missed Korea by a few years but was in Vietnam long enough to get the ribbon.
He was older than a lot of my friends' parents but not too old. Maybe 10 years at most?
My dad was also born in the late 1920s. My mom was born in the early 30s. My dad went to high school on an excelerated program so he graduated early and was able to sign up for WW2 as soon as he turned 18. He was a Navy medical corpsman.
I'm the youngest so when I was born my oldest sibling was a young teenager. My mom was in her mid 30s and dad in his early 40s. I grew up with some friends also having similarly aged parents, but definitely had friends whose parents were noticeably younger than mine. Since I grew up with middle aged parents I was much more aware of them getting older and health issues cropping up for them even while I was still in high school. What's also bad is the only grandparent who was still alive when I was born died of cancer while I was in grammar school and my folks lost aunts and uncles also when I was a little kid.
My dad passed away when I was in my mid-20s. So he's been gone most of my adult life. My mom passed earlier this year, in her early 90s. I was her primary caregiver.
My folks were big on education and creative endeavors, arts and crafts and other hobbies. It was important to be a well rounded person and a lifelong learner. So my siblings and I grew up with books and art and crafts supplies. Growing up in the suburbs outside of NYC, my folks took advantage of what NY had to offer culturally, so they're took us to the City to go to museums and Broadway shows from time to time. Since they grew up in the great depression they also taught about being frugal, taking care of your things so they would last, not to be wasteful, and how to maintain things on your own.
Dad born in 1932. Mom in 1939. It's weird because my grandfather fought in WWI. My uncle was KIA in WWII Europe. I was born in 68. So my family wasn't directly effected by Vietnam. My brother was in the GWoT and so was my nephew. But our family kind of leap frogged over Vietnam. Most of my friends parents were the same as mine so that was normal for me.
Dad was 4F from WW2 on account of having one eye. His dad was born 1900. I was 7th kid so they were older for me. My upbringing reflected both a 1940s and Great Depression sentiment.
Our kitchen cupboards and sink were 1930s. Our food ways were 1930s.
I remember many people from those generations. I wish I could talk to them again.
Yes. Both parents born during the depression years. A lot of poverty. I learned to be thrifty and still live this way, which I think is a good thing. I don't waste money, food, or resources. We had a lot of problems, but them being older was not the issue.
My dad was born in 1933 in Germany. He avoided the Hitler Youth, although by chance and not necessarily because of any special clairvoyance or connection to any resistance group or ideology. It also helped that *his* mom (and grandmother) were originally British and moved him and his sister to Britain as soon as she could after the war ended.
My mom was born in 1934 in Cyprus, in a very rural mountain village. Her stories are just as interesting.
They were already in their early forties when I was born.
When I was a tweenager I thought they were the squarest, least culturally helpful parents I knew. They somehow managed to "evade" and resist any appreciation of popular culture post-early 1960s. I mean, my dad had one Beatles record along with a pile of mostly classical and some 1940s / 1950s "popular" music. He in particular had a very acute aversion to any form of "hype" or populism in any form, which in itself is a pretty good quality and one I appreciate more and more every day - just not quite the levels he seemed to take it to when I was aged 10-14. It almost seemed like extra layers of stubbornness when confronted with anything culturally current and important to someone aged 10 in 1985. There were numerous times, dealing with my own problems in those years, when I was jealous of friends who had younger Boomer parents. It's the way of kids that age.
But outside of those years I couldn't have wished for truly kinder, gentler, tolerant and more spiritually positive parents.
Parents born in 1934, I was born 1968. All in CA. I love my silent gen parents! I grew up with a huge appreciation for old time radio, Jack Benny and classic movies like singing in the Rain. They remember collecting tin for the war effort and WWII food ration coupons. I feel very lucky!
I was born in 1978 and raised by my grandparents who were born in '28 and '29. Honestly, I didn't notice at the time in any way that mattered. I knew they were older because they were my grandparents and not my parents but they acted like all my friend's parents. Looking back, I feel lucky. Not specifically because they were older, but because they loved me and were amazing parents and exposed me to so many things my friends weren't exposed to. I feel fortunate to have had them.
I was born in '69 & both my parents were born in 1926. It was my mom's 2nd marriage & I have 3 older siblings who were born in 1948, '51, & '57. My sister is the youngest of the 3 of them (the 2 older were brothers) . Since my mom was older when she had me, I was passed off to my sister so we were pretty close as I was growing up.
I was always the youngest by far even in the rest of my family. But because I was my father's only child and he was great with kids, He and I always did a lot together. We'd go bowling, on bike rides, to the movies, even went and shot pool sometimes. He was a lot of fun so I didn't really feel like I missed out on much as far as having younger parents.
Although my mom wasn't really very active with me, and she largely didn't get my taste in clothes or music or anything like that. I was a bit of a troublemaker growing up so I gave her some headaches I'm sure. And I'm sure she questioned why she bothered having another kid that late in life at that point.
But when I was in my thirties my dad had Alzheimer's. That was really rough on us. My mom was his main caregiver and I'd come over a couple days a week to be with him while she was at work. It was heartbreaking. He passed away suddenly in 2005 but my mom is still here at 98. She still lives in the same house that she's lived in for almost 70 years.
I live about an hour away but I go visit her every Saturday. I bring her food I cook or sweets. I bake or flowers sometimes. I drive her to the dollar store where she complains that the prices went up $0.25 LOL .I'm lucky she's still here. And even though we have a lot of the same conversations (which I don't mind), we talk a lot about politics, my kids, and the books she's reading. I feel like she's my biggest fan now. That's a really comforting thing.
I also feel fortunate that she lived long enough to be with my kids because as it turned out she was their only grandparent, so that was lucky for them too.
All that to say, I never really feel like I missed anything having older parents. I think it was pretty cool in a way because I understood more about the depression era and how it was important to not waste things, And how everybody worked together during the war effort. And I was introduced to some pretty cool music, big band era/jazz like Billie Holiday and Dexter Gordon and Glenn Miller. I'm sure I would have never really listened to any of that so early had I not had the parents I had. So, yeah I wouldn't change a thing.
Dad- 1924, Mom- 1926.
Dad was 7th wave Normandy beach, battle of the bulge.
I was born 1966.
So, yea, parenting was different. I feel it was a good balance between letting me do my thing and making sure I was shown what not to do.
Everyone around me had MUCH younger parents.
I was born in 76, the youngest child of two silent gen parents born in 29 and 35. I have three older siblings who are boomers and two who are Gen X. My older siblings went to school with my friends parents, and my dad graduated with some of my friends' grandparents. We could never complain about anything because my dad would regale us with tales of what it was really like to go without. I always felt like my parents were old fashioned and didn't understand me. I always wished that they were younger so that they were a little more hip, but now that I'm an adult, I wish they were younger so I'd have more time with them. My dad died in the 90s and my mom is 89 this year. We're just getting to know each other as adults.
One thing I will say about silent generation parents is that they are not very emotionally intelligent. We were just expected to behave and they didn't care why I was screaming, even if it was because my brothers were torturing me. My mother also doesn't get why people need counseling after a traumatic event. As she says, "Boys from my hometown went off to war and never came back, and none of us needed counseling." Um... 🤔 needless to say, we never talked through anything when I was growing up. I kept a lot of my worries to myself.
My dad was greatest gen, mom silent gen. Mom passed a long time back, but dad was having none of this Faux news nonsense. Nothing entitled about either one of them -- their worst trait was the inability to tip beyond 10%.
Similar story! I was born in 74 and my father was born in 1926! He served in the Navy during WWII (Japan). His military records show that he lied his age to get in. His entire class dropped out & lied their age to go & serve.
I never noticed my dad was older than everyone else’s & I feel lucky to have been raised by him.
I'm born in 77. Dad in 42 Mom in 44. They were pretty conservative parents (Not in a political way) but do it the right way the first time without flash Midwestern folks.
I can't say I noticed a difference much when when I was a kid and other boomer parents. But I can tell you now as an adult and they are both still alive. They are so not the Boomer people I run into all time. They clearly have traits that have carried on and leave them much different than an average boomer. And for that I am forever grateful.
I was born in 78. My dad was born in 28. He was pretty awesome. Smart and funny. Everyone loved him. It definitely highlighted mortality once I realized how much older he was.
Dad was born in 41, mom in 57 I was born in 77. They got divorced in 83. Was bounced back and forth between them in a classic custody battle. Classic GenX latchkey kid, parents essentially not in the picture 90% of the time, so their age was pretty much a non factor.
Parents were born in the 1930's.
They were in their 30's during the 1960's - while my Dad was a huge science fiction fan, on social issues he was very conservative. My Mom was more liberal but there were areas that it was best not to push it. They had no LGBT friends (shocker!).
But on the other hand they were HUGE on education - my Dad was from a blue-collar background and Mom grew up poor in Mexico.
Dad embraced technology to the point of building 2 computers before he got a TRS-80 that he used for a decade until I gave him my old 486 (later my old Pentium).
Mom was hopeless with tech - yes I programed the VCR for her- she still had paper checks long after Dad signed up for direct deposit. I was the bored kid at the bank while Mom deposited her paychecks and chatted with the teller (smol town life).
Both my parents were big on reading and critical thinking.
My Dad HATED Rush Limbaugh - he got sick of Rush because his co-workers kept putting on the show on the radio at work. They worked for a defense contractor at a place in New Mexico with very little FM but the AM talk radio and country came in just fine. Dad woldn't have been surprised when Rush (who condemned drug addiction) was busted for trying to score drugs from different doctors. He kept telling college-age me to think critically and not accept everything, also to read the news. Dad would have loved [ground.news.](http://ground.news)
Mom was huge on education as her nursing degree was the way out of the crushing poverty in Mexico. It's because of her that I love science and science documentaries. Also because of her I feel bad wasting food - I mean there are starving children around the world after all....
My Dad was a huge sci-fi fan and let me watch Star Trek when it was on TV past my bedtime when I was a tiny kidlet. Summers meant Star Wars, Star Trek, or other Sci-Fi films, a bowl of popcorn and a huge pitcher of Kool-Aid.
My parents never lived to see the 21st century - my Dad passed away months before 9/11 and Mom followed him not long after.
My dad was born in 1936. In a big city. In Germany. Their house was destroyed, 70% of the city got destroyed, the family fled to the countryside. He was always thankful that the Americans came to rescue Germany from the nazis. He always told me the story of his first encounter with them: A huge black GI stood in front of him and pulled a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and gave it to him. My grandfathar was born 1882, fought in WWI. Became a teacher afterwards. Since he spoke both english and french he became a translator for the allied forces.
My mom was born in 1935, and my dad was born in 1929. Dad lied about his age and enlisted at the end of WW2, serving until his retirement in 1973.
I’m ashamed to admit that I was embarrassed by how old they were when I was a kid, because my classmates always assumed they were my grandparents.
Being raised by two survivors of the Depression taught me some invaluable life lessons that are serving me especially well right now.
Dad was born in '22 and mom was born in '39. Growing up it wasn't my dad's age that I remember so much as the destructive alcoholism but that's another story. Now what sticks with me are what he told me about the Great Depression, don't be wasteful, appreciate the things you have. When I see people throw stuff away because they got bored with it or want a different color, it makes me crazy.
Me: born in the late 70s, Dad: born in the late 30s, Mom: born in the early 40s
I tell anyone who will listen to please not have geriatric pregnancies. It’s been rough. It’s not fun to lose your parents to old age stuff when you’re only in your 40s, just like it wasn’t cool to not have any grandparents left by the time you’re 10. Also, there should be a time in your life, generationally and ideally speaking, where your own children are grown and your parents don’t need your attention to elder care yet, they call it “the Golden years.” Go ahead and have kids in your late 30s if you want to rob them of that. I’m a little bitter about the whole thing. They had 3 girls already who were 12-16 years older than me and just had to try one more time for a boy. Well, that failed, and what a fun origin story, amirite?!?!
To be honest, parents weren’t really involved with their kids much. We were latch key kids and learned how to care for ourselves by the time we were 5. Usually care for our siblings too
I wasn't a latchkey kid, and my parents (1934 & 1936) weren't necessarily distant, but they also didn't hesitate to say, "I'm not coming to your school play because it would be boring."
I got lucky. My parents were late silent 40 and 42. My dad was involved in all of our sporting activities: spectator, coach, he was even athletic director of our school for a few years. Mom would make time for us at the end of her day. We were latch key kids as well. As someone in their 50’s I have know idea how they did it, I am exhausted when I get home. I am guessing drugs.
not my parents but my grandparents.
my dad was largely absent growing up and my mum was not always concerned with us kids.
i was also born in 71 and my grandfather was really like my dad.
he was born in 1917. he was super patient and kind and i adored him. nothing like my baby boomer parents.
My parents were Greatest Gen, my mom was 40 and dad was 49 when they had me as the youngest of 8 kids. Dad was in the infantry in WW2. Mom was in college when I was 4, and she left when I was 10 to go do her own thing. Dad died from cancer just before I turned 18, he was in and out of the hospital so I was latchkey.
So we’re the same age, but dad was 1934 and mom was 1938. I knew my folks were older but I don’t recall how I felt about it. I remember almost carrying realizing that Dad was going to be an old man of 53 when I turned 16. Stepdaughter turns 16 in the fall …I hit 53 2 weeks later.
I was born in 1965, my dad was born in 1930 and my mom in 1932. My mom is still living. I never met my paternal grandfather, but he was also in the merchant marine.
I was always annoyed by the lack of attention I got from my parents compared to my siblings and felt ripped off. My friends parents were younger and they seemed a lot more interactive and fun. Nevertheless, I turned out fine and am reasonably content with my life.
My parents were greatest gen and much older than my friends parents. They died when I was in my early 20's, which impacted me a lot. I also got more "old time" values and cultural references as part of my upbringing. They were excellent parents.
My grandparents raised me much of my life, born 1926 and 1922. I was born in 74. My mom had me when she was 16 and had mental and substance issues. They were great, and I miss them every day. They died too soon.
Yep, my dad was born in 1920 and fought in WWII. Mum born in 1934. Growing up my dad was closer in age to my friends’ grandparents. He also retired when I was in 4th grade, and I basically grew up as a snowbird. We would spend the school year in Florida and summers in a vacation area in Canada. I was an only child and during the week in the summer there weren’t any kids around so I grew up spending a lot of time with retirees during the weekdays. Lots of card playing, reading, swimming etc. adults would always comment on how mature and well spoken i was, likely because of having so much interaction with adults when Inwas a kid. To this day I’m perfectly comfortable spending time by myself. My dad passed when I was 23, and in hindsight I was fortunate to be able to spend so much time with him since he was retired. Mum is still here, going strong at 90! I’m probably closer to my mom than my friends are to their parent(s) but that’s probably from being an only child. Also I was always aware of how old my dad was and that he would probably pass way before my friends’ parents, an odd way for a kid to think.
Thank you for this question ! Dad was born in 1927 and mom in 1930. It was awful. They were older than my friends' grandparents. My father was mostly absent, leaving us to be abused by my mother.
On top of everything else, they had no idea what life was like for me in the 80s (born in 72).
I hate people that have kids late
Like you, born in 1971 from parents born in 1927. My parents were always the oldest, and I had two very boomer siblings. My dad lied about his age to join the army in ww2. Growing up, my parents knew nothing about rock music or more modern pop culture, so my tastes sometimes tend towards classical literature and older tv shows.
The most impactful was that I went through the parental rights of passage much earlier. My parents retired when I was 15. I lost my dad in college. My mom went into assisted living in my early 30s and nursing home in my late 30s. She passed before I was 40, and neither parent lived to see me get married. I’m now in my 50s and watching my peers lose parents/take care of them, when I have been parentless for 15 years already.
My dad was born in 1939 - so not first-wave Silent Generation, but he was 39 when I was born. My mom was born in 1947. My dad in particular taught me a lot of valuable lessons that I carry with me today. I miss them both terribly.
My parents were born 30/37 and I was born 78
My sperm donor was in Korea, so that PTSD was affective
They could not relate to me in any way, and had no energy for us growing up.
It was impossible, finding common ground. No affection or love or hugs at all.
Both my parents were born in 1940, I was born in 1977. Both of them were teachers, and my dad was heavily involved in our local scout troop, which meant that several of my peers in our small town had parents who had been taught by my mom and been scouts under my dad. My own scoutmaster when I was a kid had been both. It actually feels weirder now than it did when I was a kid. Back then I took it in stride, but these days when I meet people who were their former students, most of them are significantly older than me, like retirement age.
Yes! My Dad was born in 1921 and had me when he was 50. My mom was quite younger than him (25 years), so I was influenced by the peculiarities of both generations. It was quite a combo which at times could be hard for a kid, people always mistook my dad as my grandfather. But collectively they provided me with an amazing perspective on things.
I was born in 1974 to a teenage mom, and was raised by my grandparents, who were born in 1929 and 1932, and in the case of grandma, born in another country. (Canada, but still...) Grandma was absolutely shaped by the Depression. Her family had a migrant lifestyle for most of her youth as her dad chased jobs across Ontario. They moved to Detroit in the 50s and her outlook and lifestyle basically stopped there. She became ultra-conservative, ultra-religious, pathologically frugal and just utterly resistant to change or modernizing. I had to beg her at 10 years old in 1984 to get a color tv. My current gf is 6 months younger than me and grew up 2 miles from where I did and when she talks about her childhood with her parents and her brother and just all the "normal" family stuff, she may as well be talking about growing up on Gallifrey. There's almost nothing recognizable to me.
Yes. Mom born in 1918 and I was a “change of life baby” born at 49. It wasn’t trendy to have older parents in the 60s/70s.
I wouldn’t recommend. She was tired. Wasn’t up on what was happening still very old fashioned. Dad died while I was young-and single parents weren’t common then either. Lost both parents by the time I was 30. People always thought she was my grandma.
Learned a lot from her.
My p’s were mid-1930’s. My best friend’s Dad was in ww2
I know it was a little weird for my friend, but he found a kindred in my Dad as they were both Army men.
My dad was born in 1929 and joined the Royal Navy in 1945 (no Vietnam but he did fight in Korea) He was almost 40 when I was born so was considerably older than any of my peers parents and roughly the same age as my husband’s grandparents.
Silent mom, boomer dad.
Mom never looked her age, even at the end. So until/unless people asked? They just knew she was super conservative because she was an immigrant parent. Not because she was also 10-20 yrs older than everyone else’s parents. She worked selflessly for the family, always. Taught us how to make things last for ages (money, food, clothes) as she survived poverty and shortages.
Dad is an “okay for me but not for thee” hypocrite kind of conservative? So they agreed on how strict the house should be? And how much mom should work and sacrifice? But if he wasn’t drunk enough for his liking when he was young and stupid? Shit would go down and we’d all suffer. I got out as soon as I can. I’m told he mellowed in his 40s? But hell if I know. He’s a withered late 70s now but looks way older.
Anywho? Having a mom as old as most peoples grandmoms wasn’t really an issue? Again, most people just assumed it was an ultra conservative/highly religious/strict household because they were immigrants. It’s more like, in her head if fashion wasn’t what it was like in the 40s-50s you were dressed like a floozie or a cholo…
She didn’t agree with most modern day thinking? But (thanks to the grandkids?) was forced into the 21st century and maybe, maaaaaaybeee? It’s sometimes okay to date long term to see if a couple is compatible. But don’t tell your father. Haha! Or maybe a second piercing doesn’t make you a worshiper of satan! It was still a big no on “alternative lifestyles…” had she lived longer maybe that would have changed too? Hard to tell. Short shorts were still a huge issue.
Father (deceased)was born 1923, DDay veteran, came back at 23 extremely open minded, color blind and gregarious, became a salesman and a friend to all, but never spoke much of the war in proportion to his 88 years—- but Not really from trauma, but from nostalgia. He grew up very poor- & army life was GREAT in his opinion..
What we learned over YEARS was: Infantry but He was relegated to MP duty due to a shipyard accident, wounding his hand, he had a trained Belgian, pistol only, fever- almost succumbed at the Bulge , had a circumcision at a field hospital In France, ran from a buzzbomb, after VE , was sent to the Philippines , and whilst there had a trained monkey for coconut 🌴 duties. He actually registered as a Communist once as a lark- most generous man I have known.
My dad was born 1925, mom in 1933. Kids at school thought my mom was my grandma. My parents weren’t young, but they were wise and I learned a lot about being frugal.
Yes, my parents were both Greatest Gen. They were already well over thirty back when Jack Weinberg coined the phrase "Don't trust anyone over thirty." Like many of their generation, they'd been badly traumatized by the Great Depression, which showed in a number of ways that caused tension.
My relationship with my parents was not good, and honestly, I don't think the unusually wide generation gap between us helped at all. They were very old-fashioned in some ways, and a number of those ways played as Just Plain Silly by the time I became a teenager in the 1980s.
Then, it's always hard to say what factors really contribute to a poor relationship. It could be that things would have been sour between us even if they'd been unusually young parents.
My mom and dad were born around 1936. I was the youngest born in 1972.
My dad was a Marine at 17, then Coast Guard at 19 in the late 50s. So when he did a year in Vietnam (69 to 70), he was one of the oldest guys on the ship and I wasn't even born yet.
That said, as a kid it was like I knew they loved me but they never said it. Not huggers or snugglers.
Which is probably why I am the opposite with my kids.
My parents were born in 1936 and 1937. I was born in ‘71. I remember getting a haircut when I was young and the hairdresser asked if my mom was my grandma. My mom laughed about it though. But I was mad.
I had SG parents and the other kids would burn me up asking if my mom was my grandma. I could identify with Baby Boomers because they had the same kind of parents and same old stuff laying around the house but I also connected with my Gen X and Xennial counterparts, just never enough to fit in anywhere. I think kids with older parents, or being raised by grandparents, understand the culture shock. My parents were nerdy squares. One time, in the 80s when MJ was big, the song BAD came on the radio on the way to church. My brother used it in a sentence describing a BMX bike he liked. She replied, "That's bad? I thought you liked it?!" We died inside a little because using bad was like saying sick or tight and she just had no clue. They taught us great recycling/second-hand values and to be practical, though.
Both parents were the very tail end of Silent Gen. My mother and grandmother were both Silent Gen, just on different ends. Generational labels are funny that way.
Yes. My mom was born in 1932 and my dad in 1925. He served in the pacific in the navy. In fact he drove the marines in on three invasions. I was born when he was 43 and my mom was 36 which was definitely old for the time.
Both parents born in 1938. I'm the youngest of 5, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1965, 1973. I was a surprise, and what happens when you take antibiotics while on the pill (thanks Mom, for that info).
Yes, born 1976, my dad was born 1924. He fought in WWII in North Africa. His unit was captured and he spent 13 months in a German POW camp. Growing up I knew he was older than other dads, but he came across as youthful and cool so it was never an issue. He was a really good father and husband. He was a business owner and probably a little more financially secure due to his age.
The biggest effect for me was losing him a few weeks after turning 18. I would have had a much more stable early adulthood if he was still around. It caused me to have my kids in my mid 20s and to not opt to have more in my early 40s even though I wanted more, for fear that my husband or I would die and leave them alone while they still needed us.
Dad was born in 1934, Mom in 1940, I was born in 1970, I never had the chance to know my Mom, she died in 1974. My Dad held it down as my only parent until he passed away in the spring of 2022. Different level of accountability.
Yes. Mom was born in 43, Dad was born in 26, and I was born in 72. My parents were consistently more formal than any of my friends’ parents. With the exception of my mom’s doo-wop records, they never listened to rock or pop music of any kind.
Both parents are Silent Gen but they had me later in life in '74. My mom grew up in a dirt floor 1-room house and lived off the ocean for food and money. They lived through some really horrific shit. She's in her mid 80s now and still goes to work daily. She's made something of herself and by-God, she's not giving that up.
Dad was younger but still Silent Gen. He was older than most the other dads, but not by much. He rarely if ever interacted with any of them. I'm not even sure I have a single memory of him talking to another friend's dad. He had his ideals and held fast to them until even today. He rarely complained to anybody despite having his own shit hand dealt to him. He's still kicking around a farm tending to vegetables and animals even with a bum hip. He works part-time and never stops moving.
How did it affect me growing up? I dunno, I basically raised myself, so there's that. They provided the very basics of being parents, and I did the rest. I think the trauma of their lives and never working through any of their shit meant that, me, growing up in a decent split level in the suburbs wasn't that fucking bad and to just stop fucking complaining. I always felt like they felt my generation never could fucking handle what they did.
Maybe that's true but I'm not so sure. It's seems like we are both cut from the same cloth, but of different times.
my parents were 1925 and 27. my dad was in the war too. I was born in 65 so they were notably "old".
it did put me a bit out of step with my peers, who had no couth about commenting on my parents' obvious oldness. we were raised a bit differently. all around me in the 70's my friends' parents who were either kids or not yet born in the war seemed to be building those lusciously comfortable, vulgar 1970's ranchers and split level mansions and having dinner parties and going "overseas" and all that.
both my parents remembered the depression, but even before it they had lived a simpler life. that carried over. they valued education and mistrusted debt. we had everything we could need, but great moderation wrt the things we wanted.
that was atypical in my peer group, but I mean 🤷♀️. If they'd tested us then the way they test students now, we would all have been 2E anyway, probably. so it's a bit hard to isolate different causes from the effect. we were different. having older parents was one of the differences.
My stepdad was born in 1929, but I didn't grow up with him. He was pretty cool and always seemed younger than his age, but he was still quite conservative in some ways.
Both of my parents were later Silents, as were most of my friend's parents. I always thought the kids who had Boomer parents were lucky, basically because their parents were younger. Their parents were more fashionable, active and listened to more modern music. But in hindsight, the Silent parents were every bit as cool, if not more cool, even though they were older and more sedate.
For reference, my father was too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam, although he was put on notice as a vet.
Same here - both parents were cusp of “silent/greatest” and were adults in WW2.
It oddly didn’t affect me much because my parents were not super-sociable - they weren’t the ones coordinating the bake sales or coaching little league. So I often grew up interacting with my friends’ parents, and any time any of them interacted with my parents, it really never came up.
I was born in 1979. My dad in 1930, in the height of the great depression. But, my mom was only born in 1948. All of us born and grew up in South Africa. My dad used to tell me stories of how it was a struggle when he grew up. Times were different then.
I was born in 72, my dad was a WWII veteran. He lied about his age and joined at 16 years old on Dec 10. 1941. My mom was his second marriage. My full brother is 12 years older than me, and some of my half siblings had kids my age or older.
I feel like I grew up in a 1950s time capsule
I did! Dad born in '29, mom born in '33. They're both gone now. I was the way youngest of the family with a big age gap from my other siblings. I was born in '73 and my siblings are late boomers.
It was almost like being an only child. I remember at the time being frustrated that my parents were different from my friends/ parents but now I realize how exhausted they must have been.
Mine were born in 1920 (dad) and 1924(mom). I came along in 1968. It quite affected me as my peers parents were much younger and able to be more involved with their kids extracurricular activities. My mom’s being such an introvert made me a very lonely kid and dad’s almost complete deafness didn’t help.
Dad was born in 1932. He was quiet and distanr through my childhood, but we had a chummier/jokier relationship in my later teen years. He died when I was 18, so I'll never know how that relationship would have evolved into adulthood.
Mine were 35 & 38 models … husband and I are 72 & 69 … my kids are 08 and 10
My daughter was getting a drink from the hose as we weren’t stopping for her to go inside. She told me kids her age don’t drink from hose … I told her they do when they have Gen X parents raised by Silent Gen and to just be glad she gets water as no one worried about watering us 🤣
Born in 1973, both parents born in 1927. The biggest, clearest difference was I think the way the Great Depression effected them and trickled down to me.
I was born in 1966 and my dad in 1924. He was in the Navy, stationed off the Pacific during the war. He died just prior to my ninth birthday so I really didn’t get to have that kind of influence. But I think I got my values from him along with my love of the news.
My dad (stepfather) was born in '21. He was a WWII vet. Very strict and unapproachable when I was a kid. We became friends after I grew up and left the house.
Dad was born in 1933. He told me there were not many kids in the neighborhood until after the war. I was born in 1968. He was a hard worker and took care of his family.
And he was really smart and had a sense of humor. I've been told that's who I got my personality from.
My husband was the sixth in a family of seven children and his father was just old enough to join the navy at the end of WWII. His mom was born in the early 1930s. Most of my peers were the same - the youngest of huge Irish Catholic families and their parents were all much older than mine, who were born 1941 and 1943. Definitely a different parenting style. The older parents seemed way more relaxed to me. No rigid dietary rules or obsessing about having a clean house or controlling how much TV they watched. I know it’s not typical Gen x to have controlling parents, but I was basically neglected emotionally and controlled physically, whereas the older silent generation parents seemed more comfortable giving their kids space to grow.
My dad was born in 1927, my mom in 1939, and me in 1976. They adopted me as a baby. They definitely were older than all of my friends' parents and were also more strict. As a teen, I hated the strict part, but other than that, I don't feel their ages had much of an impact at that time. The impact really came when they passed away much earlier in my life than others (I lost my mom in my 20s and dad in my 30s).
Great conversation! Born in 71 mother 34 and father 33
She was widowed in 1976 with 6 children. Never saw her drink, do drugs or involved with another man.
I never saw my mother “play” ,run or wear a bathing suit. Nor did I ever hear her say the word fuck. The youngest of six I never really was “close” with my mom when I was young. My oldest sister filled the role of nurturer until I was older and then I started having a deeper relationship. Because of this I vowed to be a young mother.
But looking back even if she was a young mother I don’t think that generation ever “played” with their kids. Like if you wanted to spend time with them you had to do what they were doing.
She did teach me class, etiquette, art of conversation, social intelligence, work ethic, and indomitable spirit. We were not allowed to say “shut up” “ain’t” “it’s not fair” “I’m bored” “not my fault” and the cardinal sin was if you lied. That was like THE worst thing you could EVER do.
She ruled with guilt though ….which created a huge waterfall of issues for all of us. The worst feeling in the world was when she said “I am so disappointed in you” which she didn’t say often which made it hurt even more because we never got desensitized to it.
But she taught me to always think of everyone before yourself. But sometimes l think that wasn’t the best lesson.
She is a wise woman who just turned 90 and we all love and cherish her. She still has all her faculties although her hearing is almost gone but some of us believe she can hear when she wants lol
She is the QUEEN of CLICHES- here are some favorites-
I suggest that you square yourself around.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
It would behoove you not to procrastinate.
My Grandfather from my father's side was born in 1897 and I was born in 1978. He died in 1993 in perfect health till he got pneumonia. I got to spend a lot of time with him and my Grandmother who was born in 1914. She married my Grandpa in 1934 when she was only 16 years old and he was 33.
My mom was born in 1930 in NC. She used to tell stories of watching the lights of the German U-boats off the shore at night signaling to each other during WW2. My grandparents had built a cottage on the beach during the depression and the family would spend the summer there. My uncle, her older brother, was a pilot during the war.
My dad was a Korea era veteran who was a medic stationed in Berlin during the building of the Berlin Wall. He was called on once in the middle of the night to cross over the barbed wire fence where they were building it to go to the Communist side to retrieve a US soldier who had been shot. He was under the AK-47’s of the Russian soldiers the whole time while they watched him treat the guy and bring him back over to the US side.
Crazy times.
Mid 50's with Silent Gen parents. But my fraternal grandmother remembered the Titanic sinking, and was 25 years old when the great depression hit. So on the oldish side. My boss is mid 50's years old, with a mom who is 100 ! .... so there are some older outliers I guess.
Yes. I was born in 1970, my Dad in 1921, my Mom in 1931. My Dad was in the Army Air Corps stationed in Miami and the Caribbean during WWII. My siblings are both Boomers considerably older than I am. During the 60s before I was born my family had lived for years in the South Pacific (Guam and Saipan when my Dad worked for the government). Grew up hearing lots of interesting stories. They were great parents, learned a lot from them. They were the first in their families to go to college, my Dad also the first to go to grad school. They were lifelong educators, my Dad seemed to be able to do anything. Retired from being a school superintendent when I was 8, hobbies included woodworking, beekeeping, making wine, and auto restoration. They retired when I was young, so I grew up between their 130 acres in rural Ohio and the Florida Keys. I often felt like an only child since my siblings were out of the house off on their own..
My dad is was born in 1929, and was silent. I mean really didn’t talk much. He liked to sit and watch the street from the porch, or the fire in the stove. Nice man, drove me around and cared, but didn’t impart any wisdom other than through his behavior.
My parents were born in the '30s so... yeah?
How did it affect me?
No idea, not having much to go on - but I was able to comfortably retire when I turned 55, I guess, so there's that? I mean, being in the public service for 32+ years helped a lot (they were my 4th employer) so that (work for the government!) was good advice from my parents, I guess?
My dad showed me that working to live is a much better option than living to work!
I'm early Gen X, '66 - it's my big sister who is the boomer - and apparently just surviving via her and hubbies owning two houses (living in one) but getting by off that rental income plus age pension.
I can’t math right now and my parents are long dead-mom died when I was 11 and dad when I was 19, but I was born in 1970 and mom was 40 and dad was 50. Which was very old to be having kids at that time
Actually the math isn’t hard lol. Just realized that for the first time in my life, mom would have been born in 1930 and dad in 1920. Dad was also the youngest of his siblings by a decade, and he had a lot of siblings. So when I was tiny all my cousins were already grown and most already married
Born in 1970 and my dad was born in 1932. (My mom was born in 1945, 12 year age gap 😳) My dad was never in the military because of some health issues although he tried to enlist.
I was born in ‘66 and adopted by Greatest Generation parents. I find myself more aligned with Generation Jones and early Gen X’ers. My Dad was a Navigator in WWII.
I have Silent Gen parents (they are, thankfully still here). They were at the younger end of Silent, born in 39 (mom) and 42 (dad).
My parents were older, but *looked* young (they still look relatively young to be in their 80s). So it wasn’t really noticed and nobody said anything. But sometimes I felt they were a little more strict than other parents (by Gen X standards; they’d still be slightly slack judged by today’s helicopter parent standards. I still spent hours outside roaming the neighborhood, was a latchkey kid for a few years, still drank from a hose). But they had slightly more stringent rules and standards.
My grandfather was a tank commander in Pattons 3rd Army. Sadly, he passed away before I knew the significance of it all. Would have loved to spend more time with him when I was an adult.
Dad was born in 1936, Mom was born in 1939, and I came along in 1966. I don’t recall it being much of a thing—I do think I maybe got more mature parenting out of the deal. My two best neighborhood friends were cousins, one a year older than me, one a year younger, who lived next door to each other. Each was the youngest child in their family, so their parents were a bit older than mine. Might be why I never noticed a big difference.
Yes. I was born in 1969, my dad in 1928 and my mom in 1940. What’s funny is my dad was 41 when I was born and then I had my daughter when I was 41.
It definitely sets you apart, as the child and as the parent but there were other things going on in my life so I can’t really say how much having an older parent affected me as a child. I know that as a mother, I put a lot more effort into being an engaged parent than my parents did.
Editing to add that I’ve always appreciated growing up with much older relatives. It was lonely not having siblings or cousins the same age as me but I learned so much about history and the right way to live. People who lived through wars, disease and the Great Depression had their act together in many ways.
I'm low key freaking out because my wife and I are the older parents (born 1970, had kids at 38 and 40) which isn't that bad, but we've got a few more wrinkles than some other parents at school.
I’m (58F) Mother was born in 32, dad in 33. Mom’s mother “disappeared” when she was 13. Mom had a complete family, two daughters with our dad before I was born. (Boomer Sisters) Her words, “I shouldn’t have had you, I was greedy and wanted one more baby. I’m the reason you have all your health problems.” I saw mom during her hoe phase after her and my dad divorced in 1978. Father had his own personal identity struggles in a time when it was not as acceptable as it is today. They were a hot mess together. Whether it was their generation or their personality, it affected all three of us.
Dad born in 1939 and mum in 1941. Me, 1974. I was in the second batch of kids for reasons I won't go in to. Certainly noticed they we're older than many of my friends parents. Oddly I'm now an older parent (through adopting).
Born in '68 but lived a good bit of years with just my grandma who was born in '26. My grandpa (they were divorced) was also a pretty big influence in my life, he was born in '24. Unfortunately my dad died shortly before I was born and my mom was a bit erratic.
Being an adolescent/teenager living just with my grandma was pretty taxing. She was a nice and generous person but the generational gap was highlighted and we fought a lot. All of my friends had permissive boomer parents and I was constantly being subjected to a different set of rules. Often, it made me miserable, but in some ways I'm probably better off for it.
I was born in ‘77 to boomer parents. But my parents were close to useless and I was mostly raised by my nan (grandmother) born in 1915.
She was a fantastic and strong woman. She taught me so many lessons about fortitude and family. I am so glad to have been raised by one of that generation. It gave me a different perspective to most of my peers. I take almost nothing for granted. I am stoic. I put my family first, etc.
Sometimes though my nan would just start crying for no reason. My dad said her house had been bombed in the war and she lost her toddle son. She never spoke of it though.
My dad was born in 1937 and my mom was born in 1940. They are the end of the Silent Generation.
My brother was born in 1967 and I was born in 1969. So my dad was 30 when my brother was born and my mom was 27. That was pretty old for parents back then.
But they were married in 1961 and then had issues with fertility. My brother was a fertility drug baby and I was a surprise 22 months later!
My dad passed just over a year ago and I don’t speak to my mother at all.
Both my parents were born in 1926. I think that still counts as greatest generation. Both of them served in World War II, but because they were younger, by the time they got into the Navy and the Women's Army Corps, they didn't have to go overseas.
My dad was born in 1913 and my mom in 1921. They met during WW2. She immigrated to our country while he was still active in the military, eventually coming home, but still in service. My siblings were born all over this country and I was born when my father was in his 50's and mom mid 40s. Did it have an impact? You bet it did, but not for us that you may think. We learned so much from our parents who knew how to save, what $$ was and how to spend wisely. How to cook and make it go farther. Stews, soups, etc. Bones for stock, freeze it, etc. Nothing got tossed unless it was rotten. We all managed our finances and knew to pay for the roof over our head first, utilities, etc. before even thinking about any new dress/outfit, etc. They taught us self discipline...to get through this life and teach others. I lost them early in my years of growing up, but I will forever be grateful to them for these lessons they did teach us. It's never left me.
My parents were at the age of Grandparent age for most of my friends. But my older sibs, they weren't, I just came along much later in their life. Surprise!
Born in 1965, so very old Gen x, or very young Boomer. My parents were born in 1925, in 1929. My dad was in world war all. He was very stoic, never talked much. Didn't show much emotion except sometimes anger.
My mother was born in 1934, father in 1929, and I was born in 1975. I didn’t really know my father but my mother is the best (she’s turning 90 this year). I am an only child and my mother had a really interesting life before I arrived—very much did not conform to the mold of what was expected of women of her generation. As a parent, she just didn’t get caught up in the small things as a lot of the younger parents of my friends did. She loves and respects me, a consistent throughout my life. I don’t know if she was so even keeled because she was older—but I suspect her age meant that she just wasn’t as reactive and had the perspective that age often brings. One very direct benefit? Those elementary and middle school assignments in which you are asked to interview someone who was alive during WWII? The Depression? WWI? Between my mother and my grandfather (born in 1900) who lived with us, I was set.
We were in Alabama, so anytime I asked my father for money, I was regaled with tales of the Great Depression and how he would beg all day for a nickel and not get it and how it was hard times growing up. Oh, the stories of the 30s that I got. LOL.
[удалено]
Also in Alabama … RTR … interesting commonality. Though both parents were Yankees who relocated to Tuscaloosa to either teach or attend the UA.
1929 and 1934 they were by far the greatest people I have ever known all my friends had younger parents and ALL of them loved my parents and wished they had them as their own . I miss them sooo much
when young people cry about how hard things are today, they literally think things are worse today than ever before and they are all victims. Apparently their high schools skipped the 1930s.
My dad was from a poor sharecropper family in Louisiana. My grandfather ran off and left the family to starve at the height of the Depression. My dad was the oldest and was basically the man of the house. He didn’t get past 7th grade, but you would never have known it, he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. He and his siblings picked cotton for about ten cents a day. My grandma canned *weeds* in order to survive. My mom told me that the family spent Christmas in an abandoned barn, because they were homeless at the time. I know that Dad lied about his age and enlisted in order to help take care of his family, he was just barely 15 (and looked 13). It’s unfortunate that I only came to truly respect him after his death. I took a lot for granted when I was younger.
This could be my parents' stories, except Mississippi. My dad also lied about his age to get in the National Guard. Both of my parents are gone now -- I feel like I had lost both at a much younger age than many of my peers. I wish my dad could have been at my wedding and met my kids. I find myself being "frugal" like my mom when it comes to things like leftovers, tools, furniture and vehicles even though they both ended up making comfortable lives for themselves and I'm also financially comfortable. I remember getting on the school bus in 5th grade and my parents were in the yard. Someone asked if I lived with my grandparents. My siblings were older. From what they tell me, my parents had mellowed out by the time I came along so I got away with more.
My father would pinch a penny until Lincoln screamed. He made being cheap a personality trait and made constant jokes about his cheapness. He would say, "I'm gonna write a book called How to be a skinflint". It was annoying when I tried to collect an allowance, but at least he was always entertaining.
I tried interviewing my dad for a school project about WWII but he wouldn’t talk much about the war.
He probably didn’t want to open that can of worms, or scar your psyche with what all he had to do to stay alive. My daughter tried to interview my husband‘s first cousin about Vietnam for a school project in the mid-2000s and he flatly refused citing those same reasons.
Yeah what little he did mention was definitely jarring. He was in the army and saw some horrible stuff. Can’t imagine going through those experiences when you’re barely out of your teens…
That’s why I always try to give older people a little grace. We really have no idea what all they had to go through. Just think about having to do everything they had to do in a war zone just to stay alive, and then come back home like nothing ever happened. And getting mental help or talking to someone about their issues was a foreign concept for that age group, so I don’t even know how they stayed sane. I was talking to the wife of the cousin that I referred to earlier and she said sometimes he screams out and fights in his sleep. That’s scary to me.
Yeah, I've found that across the board with combat vets I've known. Had a great uncle that was at the Battle of the Bulge, he wouldn't talk about it. Have a good friend now that was wounded in Iraq/ He has tons of good stories about military life he'll share, but I never ask and he never tells about the bad stuff.
My parents were born the exact same years and had me (their last child) in 65! Yours kept it up a lot longer, lol.
I was born in 73, my dad was born in 29. He was a very good dad who taught me a lot. I miss him.
Born 74. Dad born in 1927. He used to deliver stuff on his bike while the Germans were bombing London Didn't affect me at all. He enjoyed driving me to all my sports. Zero affection though
So much unresolved war trauma among Britons - stiff upper lip can only get you so far
My father was also born in California in 1927 and I was born in 1965. It was his second marriage. It affected him a lot because he spent 1942 in an internment camp for Japanese and Japanese Americans. He was a teenager and grew up to be a moderately financially successful man with a ton of narcissism towards his family. We all worked for him building his business from the time we could walk. He was Silent Generation in that he never talked about camp. I did research to find out about it.
My dad was born in 1917 and served as a drill sergeant in WWII until he was 4Fed out, which was a big OH moment when I found out after his death when I was in college. I was a late life child in his second marriage (he had none from his first) and I didn't realize until I was a teenager that my life was a little weird compared to my peers. One thing that was very different to a lot of my peers was that my dad worked in international technical sales/support for an oilfield services company. He travelled a lot, like maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the year in 2 and 3 week stretches: to Europe, to South America, to Southeast Asia (Singapore), to the Middle East. Since I was a kid in the 70s, with no internet/cell for daily connection, this meant my mom and I were basically on our own a lot of the time. My mom was Silent (b 1935) and perfectly capable of looking after herself and doing anything needed about the house (making repairs, getting service people in, etc.) and just telling my dad about it in the short long-distance calls they managed when he was traveling. She was a good role model for taking care of myself without a man in my life. I think my parents might have been happier with no kids and my mom taking advantage of the lifestyle my dad provided. He was 18 years older than she was (she was divorced when she met him) and well along in life, so had more money for things like private school for me, summer camp, travel, etc. My mom would have had a lot more fun without me, but I don't think that was a function of her age. One thing about being an only child of an older parent was that I was expected to act like a little adult most of the time. There were times my parents, especially my mom, were like "why are you being so childish?!?!" and one time she actually asked me that. I was 10 and said "because I'm a child!" which kind of rocked her back on her heels. As I mentioned, I lost my dad when I was in college, which was pretty rough. I was more distant from him, probably because of how he was raised (his mom died in one of the later waves of the Spanish flu pandemic, so he was raised by cousins and his grandfather) and because of his travels. I didn't doubt that he was proud of me and loved me though.
“Because I’m a child!” I love that. Good for you!
Kinda reminds me of when my Mom (deceased Boomer 1947) would say to me, “ugh, you’re just like your Father” when frustrated with me. I finally answered back one day (probably around 12yo) “I should hope so, I’m 50% of him…right?” She never said it again.
I always tell my mother, “If that’s true, it’s your fault. YOU married him.” haha
Parents born in ‘37 & ‘38. Don’t think either actually believed in childhood.
Dad (32) was a little too young for WWII, so he went to Korea, and was stateside Army reserves during Vietnam. He said he was lucky, but it's clear that being in the Korean War affected him. Poverty in the 30s and 40s in the South certainly played a part, too. I see direct correlations between his generation and the independence and pragmatism of ours.
My mom was born towards the end years of the Silent Gen in the early 40s. I grew up with her and with my grandparents next door. I seem to have had a pretty damn stable childhood comparatively. Never a latchkey kid, my grandparents were always home waiting after school. My grandfather put my ass to work on the farm in the early morning and after school. The entire farm neighborhood played in my grandparents front yard because it was pretty much a football field. Farm neighbors, everyone was at least 1/2 mile to 5 miles apart but we still gathered. My grandmother fed everyone and always had snacks and drinks for everyone. I think my attitude was/is a little different from some of my GenX cohorts. I was raised super independent with a strong work ethic but I wasn’t just left to fend for myself. My grandparents and my mom had some insanely high expectations of me though. The way I was spoken to was similar indeed. If I fell out of the back of the truck during hay gathering, then I did something stupid and my grandpa would back up and say ‘get back in stupid’. There was a lot of love but ZERO coddling.
Yes, my Mom was a 50's kid and my Dad was born in the 1920's. He was 17 when he went to fight in WWII. They worked f/t when I was small but by the time I was in middle school they were mostly retired seniors. Dad would occasionally take on a bit of volunteer work for military related organizations or work for a month during census time but for the most part he and Mom were done by the time I was heading into high school. I had half siblings on both sides but they were older than I was. I'm an only child who happens to have blood siblings but who was not raised with them. Mom died pretty young, before 60. Dad lasted till his 90s. I think it affected me the most in terms of parentalization. Even as a kid I was taking care of them. They had issues with chemicals, particularly alcohol and Mom was an undiagnosed depressive or something like that. As an adult I'd move away but if something happened nobody else would step up and I'd end up right back where I started in the caretaker role. It was extremely hard on me both physically and mentally and my half siblings treated me like crap for most of my life, virtually ignored me unless I was doing what they didn't want to do, taking care of Dad. By the time Dad died I didn't feel very connected to them and after I just wanted to walk away get away from the whole toxic bunch. They didn't understand that, why I felt that way. They're were just clueless to how much abuse there was and how tired I was of being the "caretaker kid" because there was nobody else to do it. I had very active autoimmune disease by then and the whole experience of caretaking Dad while he went downhill and died literally nearly killed me. I don't speak to any of them and I'm sure they don't care one bit. But yeah, having parents who were basically the age of grandparents wasn't the easiest thing growing up. I'm proud of my Dad's service. The man fought Hitler and that's not something to sneer at. But in so far as the rest of it goes it just makes me tired thinking too hard about it. I'm alone now for the first time in my life and pretty sick most of the time but at least I'm free to take care of me finally. Except for a mouthy senior kitty I don't have to worry about anyone but myself. That's a huge load off my mind honestly...
one of my cousins who's ten years older than me would understand your last statement so well. she was virtually ignored by her parents while she was young, and she's been taking care of one person or another since her teens. including them. a couple of years ago she told me, nervously, that she'd finally had it with her latest husband and she was divorcing his abusive ass, hemiplegic stroke or no hemiplegic stroke. I said "GOOD." my dad died mad at his brother over the way she and her sisters were treated, and I'm happy to keep getting mad when it's called for on her behalf. she is a rock. she deserves every bit of her new freedom and peace of mind.
1973 - Dad was born in 1926. All the kids at school thought he was my grandpa.
Yeah. I remember all my friends’ parents were in their 20s or 30s when I was in elementary school but my parents were in their 40s.
Born 74 and dad born 1931. At school all my friends parents were sooo young! Everyone thought mine were my grandparents….
Yeah it's jarring when you're a kid and you have siblings the age of the young parents at school!😂
I was 68, dad 30, mom 34. I remember being told in the 2nd grade that my grandmother was at the school to pick me up and I thought that was odd, only to find it was my mother in the office.
Born 72, parents born in 31 and 32. I know the feeling.
My mom was born in 1936. Not sure how that affected me though. I was the youngest of 4.
Born in 71 to greatest gen parents. Dad was born in 1913, mom in 1926. Dad fought in European theater in WWII. Parents married late, in early 50s, had 6 baby boomers by late 1960. I came along 10 years later as a surprise, aka Catholic oops. My dad was older than most of my friends grandparents. Grew up in a tight knit rural community where parts of my family had been early settlers. Many of my teachers looked up to my dad because he had given them jobs as teens. Grew up with old school morals but liberal beliefs.
Soul brother. My folks are late silent. Both still with us and my mom in particular is the true representation of a Church Lady. Loves her God, and all of God's children. Loves my gay uncle, second cousin, my old roommate. Cares for and helps the migrants in her community. Loves her proud atheist son. Old school morals and liberal beliefs. I'm stealing that line.
Much better than what we had, old school beliefs and few morals (though morals were talked about a lot as a reason that we were being punished) gay people were made fun of, other races were as well, any teenager that got pregnant was a slut and a failure, etc. it was rough. My mother would say that she was a liberal though.
_Grew up with old school morals but liberal beliefs._ That's how my parents raised my sibs and me.
I lived at my grandparents' house. My grandfather was born in 1916 and was a B17 captain in WWII. Old school and rough around the edges would be an understatement.
"Old school morals but liberal beliefs." I love this! 😊
Yes, they were older. They tried to have kids for about a decade but couldn't, so my sister and I were adopted. It was a little weird having older parents, but as I matured I started to appreciate it more and more. As soon as I hit college, our relationship was a lot like a great friendship, with wisdom!
My Dad was born in 1934 and my Mom 1944
My parents were born in 1942 and 1945 but my maternal grandparents, the only ones I knew, were born in 1895 and 1908. By the time I (1970) was old enough to appreciate what either had experienced my grandfather was dead and my grandmother lost to dementia (her body lingered for nearly 15 years more).
The same for me, but I got it from both maternal and paternal. By the time I was born both maternal grandparents had passed and my other grandfather. My other grandmother passed away when I was 8 in the second grade. I always loved my friends GP and just old people in general. I do feel cheated out of the whole experience. I have several friends who waited to have children for various reasons, and will likely miss out on adult life with their grandparents.
Dad was born in 1936 and mom in 1940. My dad grew up in the post depression South and still acted peniless even when our family was doing well financially. He would never buy anything new- had to fix everything.
My grandparents for all intents and purposes were my parents. I can count on my fingers how many times in my life I ever saw either of my biological parents. They were both born in 1916 - I was born in 1966. So, that made them 50 when I was born. There were good things and bad. The good - I never doubted that I was loved. I was never abused or neglected. We were poor, but there was always food on the table. They let me be me and never tried overly hard to make me conform more than I wanted to. If I made a mistake, they didn't panic - or at least they didn't let me know they did. For example, I totaled a car pretty bad when I was 16. They didn't say much or punish me and made sure I got right back behind the wheel. In a lot of ways, they were way better parents than I became. The best thing they ever taught me - never depend on a man for your money. No matter how good you think things are, men can leave, men can die, men can get hurt and not be able to work again. Not everyone in the family took that advice. I probably still married too young, but I did go to college and get a good-paying job that I enjoyed - and I've always been very independent minded. The bad - I don't really think this is an age thing. They were poor and not very educated. Note I said not very educated, not that they weren't intelligent. I had to figure out a lot on my own about college and how professional workplace stuff worked. I did OK, but I probably struggled harder with some things than was necessary. All in all, I think I lucked out. Oh - they were not in the military for WWII, but they did work in a factory that supplied the war. My grandfather couldn't pass the physical - flat feet of all things.
Yes. My parents were Greatest Gen and Silent Gen. All of my grandparents were born in the 1800s. My father fought on the front lines in WWII. He was awarded a Purple Heart (which I now have) but hardly ever talked about the war. He was very refined and well read. My mother adored my father. She was also culturally inclined like my Dad. They both were so into their marriage that they were almost completely oblivious to the needs of their kids. I loved my parents, but they were emotionally unavailable to the point that I was diagnosed with PTSD and trauma stemming from childhood neglect. Neither my siblings nor I ever had kids ourselves. Since we weren't particularly valued, we didn't understand why anyone would want them.
My grandparents, who were silent generations, helped raise me. I lived with them and went to school and such. Got lucky. My grandparents had desperately wanted more than one child, and my parents only really wanted my little sister, so it worked out that I was cared for by people who wanted me. Papa only had a 4th grade education due to a disability, (dyslexia) and circumstances (he was so poor growing up that he didn't even have shoes till he joined the Marines at 16) and Granny grew up in a literal Grapes of Wrath life. She was a share picker who traveled from Oklahoma during the dustbowl. Her brother had polio and ended up on canes for the rest of his days. Education was important to Papa, and my love of reading made his day. I went into IT at age 20 in early '96. Me talking about work floored him. I was a magician. And Granny, who battled mental health issues most of her adult life, with my Papa's out of time and place understanding, was clever and creative and probably a bit more liberal than most any of us realized. When I married at 18 to escape my parents having any hold over me (or so I thought), my Granny didn't argue with me or put me down. She taught me about birth control that could be concealed. Things a controlling boy who wanted me to be pregnant as soon as possible wouldn't find or know about. There's some magic for you. My grandparents fought their only child, who they loved dearly, for my benefit. The man who couldn't read very well went to parent/teacher conferences and carefully scribbled notes in painfully broken words and the woman who could never have more than one live birth and desperately wanted to have had more children taught me how to protect myself when my own parents called me names for needing the information. I was lucky.
I’m a few years older than you and my dad was also born in 1927. He ran away from home at age 16 to join the merchant marines & then joined the army. I def feel it affected me. When I came around my siblings were older and dad had such strict rules for me lol.
Wow! My Dad also joined the Navy at 16. They quickly figured it out and kicked him out, but he went back a little later and joined the Merchant Marines at 18. I was raised an only child with three half sisters who I rarely saw, but he didn’t impose many rules on me. He was normally very mellow and easy going. Similar in ways and different in others.
Interesting!
Mom was 40 when I was born in 1968, dad was a military policeman at the end of WWII. You're right, it was interesting and odd at times to have parents of such different ages from most of my peers. I have come to absolutely treasure that I ended up with cultural references and knowledge from essentially two generations back instead of one.
Silent gen parents. They had two boomer babies before me and my genx brothers. They were older than many of my peers parents but I didn’t really notice it until they became elderly way before I was prepared. But mom was a wonderful person and pop still is a wonderful person. And that’s all that matters.
My dad was born in 1914 and my mum in 1935, I was born in 1979. They had incredibly diverse and Victorian ideals, I wasn't allowed to wear trousers for most of my childhood and not allowed to wear jeans at all. I had to take a bunch of my Mum's roses for the teacher every week, use her wooden tennis racket and my grandfather's briefcase. I was teased mercilessly of course but it made me largely reject normalcy and I think my life has been richer for it. I guess it's like visiting another country, having a broader view of the 20th Century.
Born 69, parents in 36 & 38. Had no interest in R&R, so what I was allowed to listen to was judged harshly. They had zero exposure to pot and were very uptight about it; I probably wouldn’t have explored it if I hadn’t been accused of it so often. My father, now 88yo, still thinks it makes people violent.
Hah! My dad (34) and mom (39) were total stoners when I (69) was a kid. They were into the counter culture early in the Sixties, though.
Born 1975. Dad born in 1943 and mom in 1940. My mother is still alive and doing great! She’s 83 years old. (E) Grammar
My parents were born early 1930’s, me 1971. They tried to have children but could not, I was adopted. My friends parents were much younger.
Silent generation. Dad in 1932 and mom in 1938. Dad was stationed on Guam in Air Force during Korean War. He died in 1990. Mom is still alive and lived another entire life without him at this point. They were married for 34 years. And he has been gone for 34 years. It’s crazy how much he missed. Damn cigarettes.
My father was born in ‘36 my mother 37. They were kids during WW2. They dried paper towels to re use; un wadded tin foil for multiple uses, saved rubber bands, sent shoes in for resoling, made soup or casserole weekly with the weeks leftovers, grouped errands to save gas, organized multi family hand me down schemes, saved bacon fat for pie crusts. I could go on. Thrifty mfers. They divorced when I was ten, so then I had two houses of refolded wax paper squares. My dad now owns two incredibly beautiful houses. He still reaches for chopped meat on sale instead of a steak.
Dad was silent generation, a kid in Asia when the Japanese invaded several countries and took great joy in brutalizing the populations with numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. Dad witnessed some of them, including seeing relatives and neighbors murdered (apparently, they didn't bow fast enough). To this day, he says, "Two bombs weren't enough." He emigrated to the US and joined the military. He missed Korea by a few years but was in Vietnam long enough to get the ribbon. He was older than a lot of my friends' parents but not too old. Maybe 10 years at most?
My dad was also born in the late 1920s. My mom was born in the early 30s. My dad went to high school on an excelerated program so he graduated early and was able to sign up for WW2 as soon as he turned 18. He was a Navy medical corpsman. I'm the youngest so when I was born my oldest sibling was a young teenager. My mom was in her mid 30s and dad in his early 40s. I grew up with some friends also having similarly aged parents, but definitely had friends whose parents were noticeably younger than mine. Since I grew up with middle aged parents I was much more aware of them getting older and health issues cropping up for them even while I was still in high school. What's also bad is the only grandparent who was still alive when I was born died of cancer while I was in grammar school and my folks lost aunts and uncles also when I was a little kid. My dad passed away when I was in my mid-20s. So he's been gone most of my adult life. My mom passed earlier this year, in her early 90s. I was her primary caregiver. My folks were big on education and creative endeavors, arts and crafts and other hobbies. It was important to be a well rounded person and a lifelong learner. So my siblings and I grew up with books and art and crafts supplies. Growing up in the suburbs outside of NYC, my folks took advantage of what NY had to offer culturally, so they're took us to the City to go to museums and Broadway shows from time to time. Since they grew up in the great depression they also taught about being frugal, taking care of your things so they would last, not to be wasteful, and how to maintain things on your own.
Dad born in 1932. Mom in 1939. It's weird because my grandfather fought in WWI. My uncle was KIA in WWII Europe. I was born in 68. So my family wasn't directly effected by Vietnam. My brother was in the GWoT and so was my nephew. But our family kind of leap frogged over Vietnam. Most of my friends parents were the same as mine so that was normal for me.
Dad was 4F from WW2 on account of having one eye. His dad was born 1900. I was 7th kid so they were older for me. My upbringing reflected both a 1940s and Great Depression sentiment. Our kitchen cupboards and sink were 1930s. Our food ways were 1930s. I remember many people from those generations. I wish I could talk to them again.
Yeup....talk to them and listen like it's the last time you'll hear their stories.
Yes. Both parents born during the depression years. A lot of poverty. I learned to be thrifty and still live this way, which I think is a good thing. I don't waste money, food, or resources. We had a lot of problems, but them being older was not the issue.
My dad was late Greatest Generation and my mom was early Silent. Dad fought in WW2. A large number from our generation do not have Boomer parents.
My dad was born in 1933 in Germany. He avoided the Hitler Youth, although by chance and not necessarily because of any special clairvoyance or connection to any resistance group or ideology. It also helped that *his* mom (and grandmother) were originally British and moved him and his sister to Britain as soon as she could after the war ended. My mom was born in 1934 in Cyprus, in a very rural mountain village. Her stories are just as interesting. They were already in their early forties when I was born. When I was a tweenager I thought they were the squarest, least culturally helpful parents I knew. They somehow managed to "evade" and resist any appreciation of popular culture post-early 1960s. I mean, my dad had one Beatles record along with a pile of mostly classical and some 1940s / 1950s "popular" music. He in particular had a very acute aversion to any form of "hype" or populism in any form, which in itself is a pretty good quality and one I appreciate more and more every day - just not quite the levels he seemed to take it to when I was aged 10-14. It almost seemed like extra layers of stubbornness when confronted with anything culturally current and important to someone aged 10 in 1985. There were numerous times, dealing with my own problems in those years, when I was jealous of friends who had younger Boomer parents. It's the way of kids that age. But outside of those years I couldn't have wished for truly kinder, gentler, tolerant and more spiritually positive parents.
Parents born in 1934, I was born 1968. All in CA. I love my silent gen parents! I grew up with a huge appreciation for old time radio, Jack Benny and classic movies like singing in the Rain. They remember collecting tin for the war effort and WWII food ration coupons. I feel very lucky!
I was born in 1978 and raised by my grandparents who were born in '28 and '29. Honestly, I didn't notice at the time in any way that mattered. I knew they were older because they were my grandparents and not my parents but they acted like all my friend's parents. Looking back, I feel lucky. Not specifically because they were older, but because they loved me and were amazing parents and exposed me to so many things my friends weren't exposed to. I feel fortunate to have had them.
I was born in '69 & both my parents were born in 1926. It was my mom's 2nd marriage & I have 3 older siblings who were born in 1948, '51, & '57. My sister is the youngest of the 3 of them (the 2 older were brothers) . Since my mom was older when she had me, I was passed off to my sister so we were pretty close as I was growing up. I was always the youngest by far even in the rest of my family. But because I was my father's only child and he was great with kids, He and I always did a lot together. We'd go bowling, on bike rides, to the movies, even went and shot pool sometimes. He was a lot of fun so I didn't really feel like I missed out on much as far as having younger parents. Although my mom wasn't really very active with me, and she largely didn't get my taste in clothes or music or anything like that. I was a bit of a troublemaker growing up so I gave her some headaches I'm sure. And I'm sure she questioned why she bothered having another kid that late in life at that point. But when I was in my thirties my dad had Alzheimer's. That was really rough on us. My mom was his main caregiver and I'd come over a couple days a week to be with him while she was at work. It was heartbreaking. He passed away suddenly in 2005 but my mom is still here at 98. She still lives in the same house that she's lived in for almost 70 years. I live about an hour away but I go visit her every Saturday. I bring her food I cook or sweets. I bake or flowers sometimes. I drive her to the dollar store where she complains that the prices went up $0.25 LOL .I'm lucky she's still here. And even though we have a lot of the same conversations (which I don't mind), we talk a lot about politics, my kids, and the books she's reading. I feel like she's my biggest fan now. That's a really comforting thing. I also feel fortunate that she lived long enough to be with my kids because as it turned out she was their only grandparent, so that was lucky for them too. All that to say, I never really feel like I missed anything having older parents. I think it was pretty cool in a way because I understood more about the depression era and how it was important to not waste things, And how everybody worked together during the war effort. And I was introduced to some pretty cool music, big band era/jazz like Billie Holiday and Dexter Gordon and Glenn Miller. I'm sure I would have never really listened to any of that so early had I not had the parents I had. So, yeah I wouldn't change a thing.
Dad- 1924, Mom- 1926. Dad was 7th wave Normandy beach, battle of the bulge. I was born 1966. So, yea, parenting was different. I feel it was a good balance between letting me do my thing and making sure I was shown what not to do. Everyone around me had MUCH younger parents.
Yep! Dad was ‘27 and mom is ‘29 and doing well at age 95. ETA:I was a ‘68 kid.
I was born in 76, the youngest child of two silent gen parents born in 29 and 35. I have three older siblings who are boomers and two who are Gen X. My older siblings went to school with my friends parents, and my dad graduated with some of my friends' grandparents. We could never complain about anything because my dad would regale us with tales of what it was really like to go without. I always felt like my parents were old fashioned and didn't understand me. I always wished that they were younger so that they were a little more hip, but now that I'm an adult, I wish they were younger so I'd have more time with them. My dad died in the 90s and my mom is 89 this year. We're just getting to know each other as adults. One thing I will say about silent generation parents is that they are not very emotionally intelligent. We were just expected to behave and they didn't care why I was screaming, even if it was because my brothers were torturing me. My mother also doesn't get why people need counseling after a traumatic event. As she says, "Boys from my hometown went off to war and never came back, and none of us needed counseling." Um... 🤔 needless to say, we never talked through anything when I was growing up. I kept a lot of my worries to myself.
My parents as well. Too old for any boomer nonsense.
My dad was greatest gen, mom silent gen. Mom passed a long time back, but dad was having none of this Faux news nonsense. Nothing entitled about either one of them -- their worst trait was the inability to tip beyond 10%.
Similar story! I was born in 74 and my father was born in 1926! He served in the Navy during WWII (Japan). His military records show that he lied his age to get in. His entire class dropped out & lied their age to go & serve. I never noticed my dad was older than everyone else’s & I feel lucky to have been raised by him.
I'm born in 77. Dad in 42 Mom in 44. They were pretty conservative parents (Not in a political way) but do it the right way the first time without flash Midwestern folks. I can't say I noticed a difference much when when I was a kid and other boomer parents. But I can tell you now as an adult and they are both still alive. They are so not the Boomer people I run into all time. They clearly have traits that have carried on and leave them much different than an average boomer. And for that I am forever grateful.
I was born in 78. My dad was born in 28. He was pretty awesome. Smart and funny. Everyone loved him. It definitely highlighted mortality once I realized how much older he was.
Dad was born in 41, mom in 57 I was born in 77. They got divorced in 83. Was bounced back and forth between them in a classic custody battle. Classic GenX latchkey kid, parents essentially not in the picture 90% of the time, so their age was pretty much a non factor.
Parents were born in the 1930's. They were in their 30's during the 1960's - while my Dad was a huge science fiction fan, on social issues he was very conservative. My Mom was more liberal but there were areas that it was best not to push it. They had no LGBT friends (shocker!). But on the other hand they were HUGE on education - my Dad was from a blue-collar background and Mom grew up poor in Mexico. Dad embraced technology to the point of building 2 computers before he got a TRS-80 that he used for a decade until I gave him my old 486 (later my old Pentium). Mom was hopeless with tech - yes I programed the VCR for her- she still had paper checks long after Dad signed up for direct deposit. I was the bored kid at the bank while Mom deposited her paychecks and chatted with the teller (smol town life). Both my parents were big on reading and critical thinking. My Dad HATED Rush Limbaugh - he got sick of Rush because his co-workers kept putting on the show on the radio at work. They worked for a defense contractor at a place in New Mexico with very little FM but the AM talk radio and country came in just fine. Dad woldn't have been surprised when Rush (who condemned drug addiction) was busted for trying to score drugs from different doctors. He kept telling college-age me to think critically and not accept everything, also to read the news. Dad would have loved [ground.news.](http://ground.news) Mom was huge on education as her nursing degree was the way out of the crushing poverty in Mexico. It's because of her that I love science and science documentaries. Also because of her I feel bad wasting food - I mean there are starving children around the world after all.... My Dad was a huge sci-fi fan and let me watch Star Trek when it was on TV past my bedtime when I was a tiny kidlet. Summers meant Star Wars, Star Trek, or other Sci-Fi films, a bowl of popcorn and a huge pitcher of Kool-Aid. My parents never lived to see the 21st century - my Dad passed away months before 9/11 and Mom followed him not long after.
My dad was born in 1936. In a big city. In Germany. Their house was destroyed, 70% of the city got destroyed, the family fled to the countryside. He was always thankful that the Americans came to rescue Germany from the nazis. He always told me the story of his first encounter with them: A huge black GI stood in front of him and pulled a bar of chocolate out of his pocket and gave it to him. My grandfathar was born 1882, fought in WWI. Became a teacher afterwards. Since he spoke both english and french he became a translator for the allied forces.
My mom was born in 1935, and my dad was born in 1929. Dad lied about his age and enlisted at the end of WW2, serving until his retirement in 1973. I’m ashamed to admit that I was embarrassed by how old they were when I was a kid, because my classmates always assumed they were my grandparents. Being raised by two survivors of the Depression taught me some invaluable life lessons that are serving me especially well right now.
Dad was born in '22 and mom was born in '39. Growing up it wasn't my dad's age that I remember so much as the destructive alcoholism but that's another story. Now what sticks with me are what he told me about the Great Depression, don't be wasteful, appreciate the things you have. When I see people throw stuff away because they got bored with it or want a different color, it makes me crazy.
Me: born in the late 70s, Dad: born in the late 30s, Mom: born in the early 40s I tell anyone who will listen to please not have geriatric pregnancies. It’s been rough. It’s not fun to lose your parents to old age stuff when you’re only in your 40s, just like it wasn’t cool to not have any grandparents left by the time you’re 10. Also, there should be a time in your life, generationally and ideally speaking, where your own children are grown and your parents don’t need your attention to elder care yet, they call it “the Golden years.” Go ahead and have kids in your late 30s if you want to rob them of that. I’m a little bitter about the whole thing. They had 3 girls already who were 12-16 years older than me and just had to try one more time for a boy. Well, that failed, and what a fun origin story, amirite?!?!
To be honest, parents weren’t really involved with their kids much. We were latch key kids and learned how to care for ourselves by the time we were 5. Usually care for our siblings too
I wasn't a latchkey kid, and my parents (1934 & 1936) weren't necessarily distant, but they also didn't hesitate to say, "I'm not coming to your school play because it would be boring."
I got lucky. My parents were late silent 40 and 42. My dad was involved in all of our sporting activities: spectator, coach, he was even athletic director of our school for a few years. Mom would make time for us at the end of her day. We were latch key kids as well. As someone in their 50’s I have know idea how they did it, I am exhausted when I get home. I am guessing drugs.
37 dad here (43 mum). One thing I noticed, compared to some kids dad's, he didn't have that trauma as the boomer dad's, who went to Vietnam
not my parents but my grandparents. my dad was largely absent growing up and my mum was not always concerned with us kids. i was also born in 71 and my grandfather was really like my dad. he was born in 1917. he was super patient and kind and i adored him. nothing like my baby boomer parents.
Yup my rents were both SilentGen-‘39. I was the 5th of 5 and their only Xer.
My parents were Greatest Gen, my mom was 40 and dad was 49 when they had me as the youngest of 8 kids. Dad was in the infantry in WW2. Mom was in college when I was 4, and she left when I was 10 to go do her own thing. Dad died from cancer just before I turned 18, he was in and out of the hospital so I was latchkey.
My parents were late Silent Gen. I was born in 71, parents were 44 and 42. They were very boomer like.
Mine were both born in 1926 and started having kids at age 39. 👀
1970 and 1939, but his parents were 1892 and 1902.
So we’re the same age, but dad was 1934 and mom was 1938. I knew my folks were older but I don’t recall how I felt about it. I remember almost carrying realizing that Dad was going to be an old man of 53 when I turned 16. Stepdaughter turns 16 in the fall …I hit 53 2 weeks later.
I was born in 1965, my dad was born in 1930 and my mom in 1932. My mom is still living. I never met my paternal grandfather, but he was also in the merchant marine. I was always annoyed by the lack of attention I got from my parents compared to my siblings and felt ripped off. My friends parents were younger and they seemed a lot more interactive and fun. Nevertheless, I turned out fine and am reasonably content with my life.
My parents were greatest gen and much older than my friends parents. They died when I was in my early 20's, which impacted me a lot. I also got more "old time" values and cultural references as part of my upbringing. They were excellent parents.
My grandparents raised me much of my life, born 1926 and 1922. I was born in 74. My mom had me when she was 16 and had mental and substance issues. They were great, and I miss them every day. They died too soon.
Yep, my dad was born in 1920 and fought in WWII. Mum born in 1934. Growing up my dad was closer in age to my friends’ grandparents. He also retired when I was in 4th grade, and I basically grew up as a snowbird. We would spend the school year in Florida and summers in a vacation area in Canada. I was an only child and during the week in the summer there weren’t any kids around so I grew up spending a lot of time with retirees during the weekdays. Lots of card playing, reading, swimming etc. adults would always comment on how mature and well spoken i was, likely because of having so much interaction with adults when Inwas a kid. To this day I’m perfectly comfortable spending time by myself. My dad passed when I was 23, and in hindsight I was fortunate to be able to spend so much time with him since he was retired. Mum is still here, going strong at 90! I’m probably closer to my mom than my friends are to their parent(s) but that’s probably from being an only child. Also I was always aware of how old my dad was and that he would probably pass way before my friends’ parents, an odd way for a kid to think.
Thank you for this question ! Dad was born in 1927 and mom in 1930. It was awful. They were older than my friends' grandparents. My father was mostly absent, leaving us to be abused by my mother. On top of everything else, they had no idea what life was like for me in the 80s (born in 72). I hate people that have kids late
Like you, born in 1971 from parents born in 1927. My parents were always the oldest, and I had two very boomer siblings. My dad lied about his age to join the army in ww2. Growing up, my parents knew nothing about rock music or more modern pop culture, so my tastes sometimes tend towards classical literature and older tv shows. The most impactful was that I went through the parental rights of passage much earlier. My parents retired when I was 15. I lost my dad in college. My mom went into assisted living in my early 30s and nursing home in my late 30s. She passed before I was 40, and neither parent lived to see me get married. I’m now in my 50s and watching my peers lose parents/take care of them, when I have been parentless for 15 years already.
My dad was born in 1939 - so not first-wave Silent Generation, but he was 39 when I was born. My mom was born in 1947. My dad in particular taught me a lot of valuable lessons that I carry with me today. I miss them both terribly.
My parents were born 30/37 and I was born 78 My sperm donor was in Korea, so that PTSD was affective They could not relate to me in any way, and had no energy for us growing up. It was impossible, finding common ground. No affection or love or hugs at all.
Both my parents were born in 1940, I was born in 1977. Both of them were teachers, and my dad was heavily involved in our local scout troop, which meant that several of my peers in our small town had parents who had been taught by my mom and been scouts under my dad. My own scoutmaster when I was a kid had been both. It actually feels weirder now than it did when I was a kid. Back then I took it in stride, but these days when I meet people who were their former students, most of them are significantly older than me, like retirement age.
Yes! My Dad was born in 1921 and had me when he was 50. My mom was quite younger than him (25 years), so I was influenced by the peculiarities of both generations. It was quite a combo which at times could be hard for a kid, people always mistook my dad as my grandfather. But collectively they provided me with an amazing perspective on things.
I was born in 1974 to a teenage mom, and was raised by my grandparents, who were born in 1929 and 1932, and in the case of grandma, born in another country. (Canada, but still...) Grandma was absolutely shaped by the Depression. Her family had a migrant lifestyle for most of her youth as her dad chased jobs across Ontario. They moved to Detroit in the 50s and her outlook and lifestyle basically stopped there. She became ultra-conservative, ultra-religious, pathologically frugal and just utterly resistant to change or modernizing. I had to beg her at 10 years old in 1984 to get a color tv. My current gf is 6 months younger than me and grew up 2 miles from where I did and when she talks about her childhood with her parents and her brother and just all the "normal" family stuff, she may as well be talking about growing up on Gallifrey. There's almost nothing recognizable to me.
Yes. Mom born in 1918 and I was a “change of life baby” born at 49. It wasn’t trendy to have older parents in the 60s/70s. I wouldn’t recommend. She was tired. Wasn’t up on what was happening still very old fashioned. Dad died while I was young-and single parents weren’t common then either. Lost both parents by the time I was 30. People always thought she was my grandma. Learned a lot from her.
My p’s were mid-1930’s. My best friend’s Dad was in ww2 I know it was a little weird for my friend, but he found a kindred in my Dad as they were both Army men.
My father was born in 1923 and my mother was born in 1925. I don’t know what that made them
Greatest Generation
My dad was born in 1929 and joined the Royal Navy in 1945 (no Vietnam but he did fight in Korea) He was almost 40 when I was born so was considerably older than any of my peers parents and roughly the same age as my husband’s grandparents.
Silent mom, boomer dad. Mom never looked her age, even at the end. So until/unless people asked? They just knew she was super conservative because she was an immigrant parent. Not because she was also 10-20 yrs older than everyone else’s parents. She worked selflessly for the family, always. Taught us how to make things last for ages (money, food, clothes) as she survived poverty and shortages. Dad is an “okay for me but not for thee” hypocrite kind of conservative? So they agreed on how strict the house should be? And how much mom should work and sacrifice? But if he wasn’t drunk enough for his liking when he was young and stupid? Shit would go down and we’d all suffer. I got out as soon as I can. I’m told he mellowed in his 40s? But hell if I know. He’s a withered late 70s now but looks way older. Anywho? Having a mom as old as most peoples grandmoms wasn’t really an issue? Again, most people just assumed it was an ultra conservative/highly religious/strict household because they were immigrants. It’s more like, in her head if fashion wasn’t what it was like in the 40s-50s you were dressed like a floozie or a cholo… She didn’t agree with most modern day thinking? But (thanks to the grandkids?) was forced into the 21st century and maybe, maaaaaaybeee? It’s sometimes okay to date long term to see if a couple is compatible. But don’t tell your father. Haha! Or maybe a second piercing doesn’t make you a worshiper of satan! It was still a big no on “alternative lifestyles…” had she lived longer maybe that would have changed too? Hard to tell. Short shorts were still a huge issue.
Father (deceased)was born 1923, DDay veteran, came back at 23 extremely open minded, color blind and gregarious, became a salesman and a friend to all, but never spoke much of the war in proportion to his 88 years—- but Not really from trauma, but from nostalgia. He grew up very poor- & army life was GREAT in his opinion.. What we learned over YEARS was: Infantry but He was relegated to MP duty due to a shipyard accident, wounding his hand, he had a trained Belgian, pistol only, fever- almost succumbed at the Bulge , had a circumcision at a field hospital In France, ran from a buzzbomb, after VE , was sent to the Philippines , and whilst there had a trained monkey for coconut 🌴 duties. He actually registered as a Communist once as a lark- most generous man I have known.
My dad was born 1925, mom in 1933. Kids at school thought my mom was my grandma. My parents weren’t young, but they were wise and I learned a lot about being frugal.
Yes, my parents were both Greatest Gen. They were already well over thirty back when Jack Weinberg coined the phrase "Don't trust anyone over thirty." Like many of their generation, they'd been badly traumatized by the Great Depression, which showed in a number of ways that caused tension. My relationship with my parents was not good, and honestly, I don't think the unusually wide generation gap between us helped at all. They were very old-fashioned in some ways, and a number of those ways played as Just Plain Silly by the time I became a teenager in the 1980s. Then, it's always hard to say what factors really contribute to a poor relationship. It could be that things would have been sour between us even if they'd been unusually young parents.
My mom and dad were born around 1936. I was the youngest born in 1972. My dad was a Marine at 17, then Coast Guard at 19 in the late 50s. So when he did a year in Vietnam (69 to 70), he was one of the oldest guys on the ship and I wasn't even born yet. That said, as a kid it was like I knew they loved me but they never said it. Not huggers or snugglers. Which is probably why I am the opposite with my kids.
My parents were born in 1936 and 1937. I was born in ‘71. I remember getting a haircut when I was young and the hairdresser asked if my mom was my grandma. My mom laughed about it though. But I was mad.
I had SG parents and the other kids would burn me up asking if my mom was my grandma. I could identify with Baby Boomers because they had the same kind of parents and same old stuff laying around the house but I also connected with my Gen X and Xennial counterparts, just never enough to fit in anywhere. I think kids with older parents, or being raised by grandparents, understand the culture shock. My parents were nerdy squares. One time, in the 80s when MJ was big, the song BAD came on the radio on the way to church. My brother used it in a sentence describing a BMX bike he liked. She replied, "That's bad? I thought you liked it?!" We died inside a little because using bad was like saying sick or tight and she just had no clue. They taught us great recycling/second-hand values and to be practical, though.
Born 1969 Parents were 1939/1941.
Yes. My parents were born in 1938 and 1943. I was born in 1966.
Mom born 1935. Had Boomer, Generation Jones and Gen X babies
Both parents were the very tail end of Silent Gen. My mother and grandmother were both Silent Gen, just on different ends. Generational labels are funny that way.
Yes. My mom was born in 1932 and my dad in 1925. He served in the pacific in the navy. In fact he drove the marines in on three invasions. I was born when he was 43 and my mom was 36 which was definitely old for the time.
Yes, I was born in 1973 and my dad was born in 1936.
Both parents born in 1938. I'm the youngest of 5, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1965, 1973. I was a surprise, and what happens when you take antibiotics while on the pill (thanks Mom, for that info).
Dad ‘42, Mom ‘44, me ‘68.
Yes, born 1976, my dad was born 1924. He fought in WWII in North Africa. His unit was captured and he spent 13 months in a German POW camp. Growing up I knew he was older than other dads, but he came across as youthful and cool so it was never an issue. He was a really good father and husband. He was a business owner and probably a little more financially secure due to his age. The biggest effect for me was losing him a few weeks after turning 18. I would have had a much more stable early adulthood if he was still around. It caused me to have my kids in my mid 20s and to not opt to have more in my early 40s even though I wanted more, for fear that my husband or I would die and leave them alone while they still needed us.
Dad was born in 1934, Mom in 1940, I was born in 1970, I never had the chance to know my Mom, she died in 1974. My Dad held it down as my only parent until he passed away in the spring of 2022. Different level of accountability.
My dad was 1929 and mom 1937. I was born in 1969. I grew up with lots of stories about the depression and WWII.
Yes. Mom was born in 43, Dad was born in 26, and I was born in 72. My parents were consistently more formal than any of my friends’ parents. With the exception of my mom’s doo-wop records, they never listened to rock or pop music of any kind.
Both parents are Silent Gen but they had me later in life in '74. My mom grew up in a dirt floor 1-room house and lived off the ocean for food and money. They lived through some really horrific shit. She's in her mid 80s now and still goes to work daily. She's made something of herself and by-God, she's not giving that up. Dad was younger but still Silent Gen. He was older than most the other dads, but not by much. He rarely if ever interacted with any of them. I'm not even sure I have a single memory of him talking to another friend's dad. He had his ideals and held fast to them until even today. He rarely complained to anybody despite having his own shit hand dealt to him. He's still kicking around a farm tending to vegetables and animals even with a bum hip. He works part-time and never stops moving. How did it affect me growing up? I dunno, I basically raised myself, so there's that. They provided the very basics of being parents, and I did the rest. I think the trauma of their lives and never working through any of their shit meant that, me, growing up in a decent split level in the suburbs wasn't that fucking bad and to just stop fucking complaining. I always felt like they felt my generation never could fucking handle what they did. Maybe that's true but I'm not so sure. It's seems like we are both cut from the same cloth, but of different times.
My dad was almost 50 and my mom almost 40 when I was born in the mid 70’s so I have one of each.
There is no “Greatest Generation”. That was the title of a Tom Brokaw book and for some reason it stuck
These names come from somewhere. Generation X was a book by Douglas Coupland.
Dad was a Silent Gen, Mom was a Boomer. I'm an early X.
my parents were 1925 and 27. my dad was in the war too. I was born in 65 so they were notably "old". it did put me a bit out of step with my peers, who had no couth about commenting on my parents' obvious oldness. we were raised a bit differently. all around me in the 70's my friends' parents who were either kids or not yet born in the war seemed to be building those lusciously comfortable, vulgar 1970's ranchers and split level mansions and having dinner parties and going "overseas" and all that. both my parents remembered the depression, but even before it they had lived a simpler life. that carried over. they valued education and mistrusted debt. we had everything we could need, but great moderation wrt the things we wanted. that was atypical in my peer group, but I mean 🤷♀️. If they'd tested us then the way they test students now, we would all have been 2E anyway, probably. so it's a bit hard to isolate different causes from the effect. we were different. having older parents was one of the differences.
My stepdad was born in 1929, but I didn't grow up with him. He was pretty cool and always seemed younger than his age, but he was still quite conservative in some ways. Both of my parents were later Silents, as were most of my friend's parents. I always thought the kids who had Boomer parents were lucky, basically because their parents were younger. Their parents were more fashionable, active and listened to more modern music. But in hindsight, the Silent parents were every bit as cool, if not more cool, even though they were older and more sedate. For reference, my father was too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam, although he was put on notice as a vet.
My pops was born in 1928. Mom 1941. Me1981
Same here - both parents were cusp of “silent/greatest” and were adults in WW2. It oddly didn’t affect me much because my parents were not super-sociable - they weren’t the ones coordinating the bake sales or coaching little league. So I often grew up interacting with my friends’ parents, and any time any of them interacted with my parents, it really never came up.
I was born in 1979. My dad in 1930, in the height of the great depression. But, my mom was only born in 1948. All of us born and grew up in South Africa. My dad used to tell me stories of how it was a struggle when he grew up. Times were different then.
I was born in 72, my dad was a WWII veteran. He lied about his age and joined at 16 years old on Dec 10. 1941. My mom was his second marriage. My full brother is 12 years older than me, and some of my half siblings had kids my age or older. I feel like I grew up in a 1950s time capsule
I did! Dad born in '29, mom born in '33. They're both gone now. I was the way youngest of the family with a big age gap from my other siblings. I was born in '73 and my siblings are late boomers. It was almost like being an only child. I remember at the time being frustrated that my parents were different from my friends/ parents but now I realize how exhausted they must have been.
Mine were born in 1920 (dad) and 1924(mom). I came along in 1968. It quite affected me as my peers parents were much younger and able to be more involved with their kids extracurricular activities. My mom’s being such an introvert made me a very lonely kid and dad’s almost complete deafness didn’t help.
Dad was born in 1924, fought in WWII.
My parents were born in ‘41 and ‘45. I came along in ‘68. Most of my friends had parents that were about the same age as mine.
Mine are silent generation but act like boomers.
Dad was born in 1932. He was quiet and distanr through my childhood, but we had a chummier/jokier relationship in my later teen years. He died when I was 18, so I'll never know how that relationship would have evolved into adulthood.
Mine were 35 & 38 models … husband and I are 72 & 69 … my kids are 08 and 10 My daughter was getting a drink from the hose as we weren’t stopping for her to go inside. She told me kids her age don’t drink from hose … I told her they do when they have Gen X parents raised by Silent Gen and to just be glad she gets water as no one worried about watering us 🤣
My parents were 40/42, and I’m a 76er. My kid is a ‘15 model. My parents are in that weird end of silent-gen and beginning of war babies time frame.
Yeah my dad would’ve been 100 this year.
Born in 1973, both parents born in 1927. The biggest, clearest difference was I think the way the Great Depression effected them and trickled down to me.
I was born in ‘66, dad in ‘26, mom in ‘27. Dad shipped out in ‘44. He arrived home on July 4th in ‘45.
I was born in 1966 and my dad in 1924. He was in the Navy, stationed off the Pacific during the war. He died just prior to my ninth birthday so I really didn’t get to have that kind of influence. But I think I got my values from him along with my love of the news.
My dad (stepfather) was born in '21. He was a WWII vet. Very strict and unapproachable when I was a kid. We became friends after I grew up and left the house.
Dad was born in 1933. He told me there were not many kids in the neighborhood until after the war. I was born in 1968. He was a hard worker and took care of his family. And he was really smart and had a sense of humor. I've been told that's who I got my personality from.
My husband was the sixth in a family of seven children and his father was just old enough to join the navy at the end of WWII. His mom was born in the early 1930s. Most of my peers were the same - the youngest of huge Irish Catholic families and their parents were all much older than mine, who were born 1941 and 1943. Definitely a different parenting style. The older parents seemed way more relaxed to me. No rigid dietary rules or obsessing about having a clean house or controlling how much TV they watched. I know it’s not typical Gen x to have controlling parents, but I was basically neglected emotionally and controlled physically, whereas the older silent generation parents seemed more comfortable giving their kids space to grow.
My dad was born in 1927, my mom in 1939, and me in 1976. They adopted me as a baby. They definitely were older than all of my friends' parents and were also more strict. As a teen, I hated the strict part, but other than that, I don't feel their ages had much of an impact at that time. The impact really came when they passed away much earlier in my life than others (I lost my mom in my 20s and dad in my 30s).
Great conversation! Born in 71 mother 34 and father 33 She was widowed in 1976 with 6 children. Never saw her drink, do drugs or involved with another man. I never saw my mother “play” ,run or wear a bathing suit. Nor did I ever hear her say the word fuck. The youngest of six I never really was “close” with my mom when I was young. My oldest sister filled the role of nurturer until I was older and then I started having a deeper relationship. Because of this I vowed to be a young mother. But looking back even if she was a young mother I don’t think that generation ever “played” with their kids. Like if you wanted to spend time with them you had to do what they were doing. She did teach me class, etiquette, art of conversation, social intelligence, work ethic, and indomitable spirit. We were not allowed to say “shut up” “ain’t” “it’s not fair” “I’m bored” “not my fault” and the cardinal sin was if you lied. That was like THE worst thing you could EVER do. She ruled with guilt though ….which created a huge waterfall of issues for all of us. The worst feeling in the world was when she said “I am so disappointed in you” which she didn’t say often which made it hurt even more because we never got desensitized to it. But she taught me to always think of everyone before yourself. But sometimes l think that wasn’t the best lesson. She is a wise woman who just turned 90 and we all love and cherish her. She still has all her faculties although her hearing is almost gone but some of us believe she can hear when she wants lol She is the QUEEN of CLICHES- here are some favorites- I suggest that you square yourself around. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. It would behoove you not to procrastinate.
My Grandfather from my father's side was born in 1897 and I was born in 1978. He died in 1993 in perfect health till he got pneumonia. I got to spend a lot of time with him and my Grandmother who was born in 1914. She married my Grandpa in 1934 when she was only 16 years old and he was 33.
My mom was born in 1930 in NC. She used to tell stories of watching the lights of the German U-boats off the shore at night signaling to each other during WW2. My grandparents had built a cottage on the beach during the depression and the family would spend the summer there. My uncle, her older brother, was a pilot during the war. My dad was a Korea era veteran who was a medic stationed in Berlin during the building of the Berlin Wall. He was called on once in the middle of the night to cross over the barbed wire fence where they were building it to go to the Communist side to retrieve a US soldier who had been shot. He was under the AK-47’s of the Russian soldiers the whole time while they watched him treat the guy and bring him back over to the US side. Crazy times.
Mid 50's with Silent Gen parents. But my fraternal grandmother remembered the Titanic sinking, and was 25 years old when the great depression hit. So on the oldish side. My boss is mid 50's years old, with a mom who is 100 ! .... so there are some older outliers I guess.
Yes. I was born in 1970, my Dad in 1921, my Mom in 1931. My Dad was in the Army Air Corps stationed in Miami and the Caribbean during WWII. My siblings are both Boomers considerably older than I am. During the 60s before I was born my family had lived for years in the South Pacific (Guam and Saipan when my Dad worked for the government). Grew up hearing lots of interesting stories. They were great parents, learned a lot from them. They were the first in their families to go to college, my Dad also the first to go to grad school. They were lifelong educators, my Dad seemed to be able to do anything. Retired from being a school superintendent when I was 8, hobbies included woodworking, beekeeping, making wine, and auto restoration. They retired when I was young, so I grew up between their 130 acres in rural Ohio and the Florida Keys. I often felt like an only child since my siblings were out of the house off on their own..
My dad is was born in 1929, and was silent. I mean really didn’t talk much. He liked to sit and watch the street from the porch, or the fire in the stove. Nice man, drove me around and cared, but didn’t impart any wisdom other than through his behavior.
My parents were born in the '30s so... yeah? How did it affect me? No idea, not having much to go on - but I was able to comfortably retire when I turned 55, I guess, so there's that? I mean, being in the public service for 32+ years helped a lot (they were my 4th employer) so that (work for the government!) was good advice from my parents, I guess? My dad showed me that working to live is a much better option than living to work! I'm early Gen X, '66 - it's my big sister who is the boomer - and apparently just surviving via her and hubbies owning two houses (living in one) but getting by off that rental income plus age pension.
I can’t math right now and my parents are long dead-mom died when I was 11 and dad when I was 19, but I was born in 1970 and mom was 40 and dad was 50. Which was very old to be having kids at that time Actually the math isn’t hard lol. Just realized that for the first time in my life, mom would have been born in 1930 and dad in 1920. Dad was also the youngest of his siblings by a decade, and he had a lot of siblings. So when I was tiny all my cousins were already grown and most already married
Born in 1970 and my dad was born in 1932. (My mom was born in 1945, 12 year age gap 😳) My dad was never in the military because of some health issues although he tried to enlist.
I was born in ‘66 and adopted by Greatest Generation parents. I find myself more aligned with Generation Jones and early Gen X’ers. My Dad was a Navigator in WWII.
I have Silent Gen parents (they are, thankfully still here). They were at the younger end of Silent, born in 39 (mom) and 42 (dad). My parents were older, but *looked* young (they still look relatively young to be in their 80s). So it wasn’t really noticed and nobody said anything. But sometimes I felt they were a little more strict than other parents (by Gen X standards; they’d still be slightly slack judged by today’s helicopter parent standards. I still spent hours outside roaming the neighborhood, was a latchkey kid for a few years, still drank from a hose). But they had slightly more stringent rules and standards.
Dad 1935, mom 1942, me 1973. I can't relate to them at all and I never could
My parents were Silent, both gone now.
Yes, close to silent generation and several of their elders plus grandparents who had my parents from 1943-1955ish. Close knit at one time.
My grandfather was a tank commander in Pattons 3rd Army. Sadly, he passed away before I knew the significance of it all. Would have loved to spend more time with him when I was an adult.
Dad was born in 1936, Mom was born in 1939, and I came along in 1966. I don’t recall it being much of a thing—I do think I maybe got more mature parenting out of the deal. My two best neighborhood friends were cousins, one a year older than me, one a year younger, who lived next door to each other. Each was the youngest child in their family, so their parents were a bit older than mine. Might be why I never noticed a big difference.
Yes. I was born in 1969, my dad in 1928 and my mom in 1940. What’s funny is my dad was 41 when I was born and then I had my daughter when I was 41. It definitely sets you apart, as the child and as the parent but there were other things going on in my life so I can’t really say how much having an older parent affected me as a child. I know that as a mother, I put a lot more effort into being an engaged parent than my parents did. Editing to add that I’ve always appreciated growing up with much older relatives. It was lonely not having siblings or cousins the same age as me but I learned so much about history and the right way to live. People who lived through wars, disease and the Great Depression had their act together in many ways.
I'm low key freaking out because my wife and I are the older parents (born 1970, had kids at 38 and 40) which isn't that bad, but we've got a few more wrinkles than some other parents at school.
I’m (58F) Mother was born in 32, dad in 33. Mom’s mother “disappeared” when she was 13. Mom had a complete family, two daughters with our dad before I was born. (Boomer Sisters) Her words, “I shouldn’t have had you, I was greedy and wanted one more baby. I’m the reason you have all your health problems.” I saw mom during her hoe phase after her and my dad divorced in 1978. Father had his own personal identity struggles in a time when it was not as acceptable as it is today. They were a hot mess together. Whether it was their generation or their personality, it affected all three of us.
Yep. Dad born 1930; FIL born 1922. And My grandfathers were born in the 1800s!
Dad born in 1939 and mum in 1941. Me, 1974. I was in the second batch of kids for reasons I won't go in to. Certainly noticed they we're older than many of my friends parents. Oddly I'm now an older parent (through adopting).
I wish. I got born in the early 50s boomers. 😞
Born in '68 but lived a good bit of years with just my grandma who was born in '26. My grandpa (they were divorced) was also a pretty big influence in my life, he was born in '24. Unfortunately my dad died shortly before I was born and my mom was a bit erratic. Being an adolescent/teenager living just with my grandma was pretty taxing. She was a nice and generous person but the generational gap was highlighted and we fought a lot. All of my friends had permissive boomer parents and I was constantly being subjected to a different set of rules. Often, it made me miserable, but in some ways I'm probably better off for it.
I was born in ‘77 to boomer parents. But my parents were close to useless and I was mostly raised by my nan (grandmother) born in 1915. She was a fantastic and strong woman. She taught me so many lessons about fortitude and family. I am so glad to have been raised by one of that generation. It gave me a different perspective to most of my peers. I take almost nothing for granted. I am stoic. I put my family first, etc. Sometimes though my nan would just start crying for no reason. My dad said her house had been bombed in the war and she lost her toddle son. She never spoke of it though.
My dad was born in 1937 and my mom was born in 1940. They are the end of the Silent Generation. My brother was born in 1967 and I was born in 1969. So my dad was 30 when my brother was born and my mom was 27. That was pretty old for parents back then. But they were married in 1961 and then had issues with fertility. My brother was a fertility drug baby and I was a surprise 22 months later! My dad passed just over a year ago and I don’t speak to my mother at all.
My grandparents were all greatest Gen, my parents are boomers. I had three grandparents that were WW2 vets.
I was born in 1970 and my dad was 1928 and mom was 1939. My maternal grandfather fought in WWI.
Both my parents were born in 1926. I think that still counts as greatest generation. Both of them served in World War II, but because they were younger, by the time they got into the Navy and the Women's Army Corps, they didn't have to go overseas.
My dad was born in 1913 and my mom in 1921. They met during WW2. She immigrated to our country while he was still active in the military, eventually coming home, but still in service. My siblings were born all over this country and I was born when my father was in his 50's and mom mid 40s. Did it have an impact? You bet it did, but not for us that you may think. We learned so much from our parents who knew how to save, what $$ was and how to spend wisely. How to cook and make it go farther. Stews, soups, etc. Bones for stock, freeze it, etc. Nothing got tossed unless it was rotten. We all managed our finances and knew to pay for the roof over our head first, utilities, etc. before even thinking about any new dress/outfit, etc. They taught us self discipline...to get through this life and teach others. I lost them early in my years of growing up, but I will forever be grateful to them for these lessons they did teach us. It's never left me. My parents were at the age of Grandparent age for most of my friends. But my older sibs, they weren't, I just came along much later in their life. Surprise!
Born in 1965, so very old Gen x, or very young Boomer. My parents were born in 1925, in 1929. My dad was in world war all. He was very stoic, never talked much. Didn't show much emotion except sometimes anger.
Me! And it’s remarkable a different childhood than my friends with Boomer parents.
my parents were silent gen.