Is there a place here for over age 35 AD-ers

[salleh]

Having a section for us old fogies doesn't mean we can't go and hang out with other ages.....I am all over the map with the posts I make ......OK I rarely check out the high school area, and parenting .....only once in a while, and Men's section .....when I can't resist a thread title .....

and meds, I stick to the ones I take......

but that leaves a whole lotta sections that I roam around in .....

...but if the high school kids have their own area......how come us ...how about calling it the "baby boomer" area ....or just boomers.....that means people born between 1946 and 1965 .....


...There was a whole number about being born in that era ....how we were raised, what our schooling was like, how technology wasn't there, but we have learned to use it .....( me on a computer....10 years ago I wouldn't have gone near one .......of course that was before the internet really took off)

.....cause it's like dating someone much younger than yourself ...you share x amount of years that you were both on the planet ....but the years you were there and they weren't .....well it gives us a whole cultural bias and outlook that younger folks don't have ......


.....WEre you around when the Beatles first hit ? .....How about when John Kennedy was shot ? ...or his brother Bobby ? .....were you a hippie ?( oh me ! yes I was ....actually still am )


...Think "Wonder Years" ....and if you don't remember that TV show ...you really are young !


......We grew up with phones you really had to dial ...as in put your finger in a hole and turn the dial to the little arm dial stopper ......TV had about ....lessee....in LA is was 2,4,5,7,9, 11, 13 and 28 ? for PBS ......there was no remote...you had to get up and change the channel ....and ALL the stations went off the air by 2 AM ( and that was on the weekends) .......

...and when I was a kid, TV was only Black and White....

There were no seat belts in cars .......gas was 50 cents a gallon or less ! my first car when I was 18, gas was 26 cents a gallon .....good thing too as it was a 1965 Olds Cultlass with a 400 cubic inch, 8 cylinder engine and got about 12 miles to the gallon, especially the way I drove ! ...bat outta h***.....


and your car had a wind-wing ....remember those things ? ....they could cool off a hot summer sitting in the sun car faster than air-conditioning ?? ...unless you were in Arizona !

....Most ( but not all ) moms stayed home all day ......

....You may not have even known what your dad did at work .....


...Kids lived in their own world ....no grown ups allowed ......we would get home from school and take off ....Lord knows what on earth we did, but we didn't come home till near dinner......lots of bike riding was involved....and neighborhood gang bike games ....like ditch 'em ....play by teams .......lots of running around with your friends and giggling .......and water fights.....using a vast number of ways to douse your friends....

no such thing as play dates.....jeeze.....how lame, woulda been our take on that .....


....It was more than your life was worth to talk back to adults .......lest you get knocked into the next county .....

....and girls wore dresses to school everyday , Catholic schools meant you wore a uniform ...usually uglier than sin ...and public school girls could wear skirts and dresses of their own choosing .....


...You learned to write cursive using a fountain pen ........


...You made most of your own entertainment, there were a few TV show for kids...Sat morn cartoons were traditional, and a couple of shows just before dinnertime.....and that was about it ......prime time was for adults.....

....you had a record player that played albums ....( I was a little bit too young for the 45RPM 3 minute "singles" ...egad ,playing one song at a time on a record player ....OUR albums went 15 whole minutes on one side ......) ...and for several years no one cared about stacking the albums on the stereo, but then everyone got all fussy about how it scratched the records, and switched to single record turn tables.......


remember bring your very first stereo system home and trying to figure out how to hook up the turntable, amp/tuner and the speakers ????? they were all seperate items .....all those wires !

then some bright person came out with 8 track tapes .....bigger than a long paperback book .....


...and watch someone like Lloyd Thaxton after school to learn all the new dance crazes ....like the Stomp, and the Hully Gully and the Bird ( stupidest dance ever !) ....and the FInk ???? ....the Monkey ? I personally always thought the Twist was tacky.....the Bristol Stomp ? ...the Monster Mash ...( it caught on in a flash!)

..and as you hit your teens, as a girl .....it was nylons and garter belts cause no one had invented panty hose yet ! and it was a rite of passage for us girls to learn to walk in "heels" ......( never did get the hang of that though)

.....and dating ....YIKES ....well I'll stop here


...and Folk Music !!!....I grew up listening to the Kinston Trio, the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, Bud and Travis.....Pete Seeger.....the Gateway SIngers.....



...and I think maybe you younger folks now understand how different our lives were then ......we all remember and lived through most of that ......Life was freer, and less constricted.....no one was nearly as scared of people as we are now.....Information didn't get around the whole country so that something that happened across the country didn't feel as if it happened next door....we just hardly ever heard about what was going on elsewhere.......

had to be earthshattering to cross state lines !

[salleh]

....Ahem .....History lesson continues ......

Shindig .....1965 ...I was 15 .......the Beach Boys.....watch the Beach Boy on the far right ...he's doing the basic Cailfornia style dance ...with a little bit of the "Jerk" thron in .....I know men who still dance like that ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJQRxExlmy8

and then there was folks music .....the craze started with these guys .//.....the Kingston Trio .....

and here there are at the beginning in 1958 or 59 .....Bob Shane, ( Who I had a huge crush on ) Dave Guard and Nick Reynalds .....About 30 years ago, my friend Banjo Bill showed up with this huge old Martin guitar, and it had a raggedy hole below the pick guard, ..and a brass plaque, it was Bob Shanes old Dreadnought Martin ....loudest guitar I ever heard .....thousands of hours played at full roar.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJU_aSOKFpQ

then there was another aspect ot folk music ...the protest song ....this one is subtle ...like a ton of bricks....and sung by the Chad Mitchell Trio ...The John Birch Socviety was a far right group in the 60s......


this song cracks me up every time .......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG6taS9R1KM

.



The Limeliters.....the orgianl; with Glenn Yarborough ....that man has the perttiest tenor ever hear on earth ....this is a traditiopn Irish song .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCqel...eature=related

and lastly ....folk music also explored lots of cultures ...and Bud and Travis sing Malagena Salarosa ....and I first hear this song when I was about 10, and to this day, I am blown away by the vocal abilities of these 2 guys ....one of the loveliest, most haunting love songs ever recorded......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMzNjTdbybE

[Hatiki]

I was born October '63, 3 weeks before Kennedy was assassinated half a world away..... when I was little, radio and TV news was all about the vietnam war, Jack Kennedy and Jackie...... I remember being 5 or 6 and thinking it was normal for American presidents to be shot..

.....it occurs to me that its weird I paid so much attention to the news..... I don't remember seeing kids TV til I was at school - maybe there wasn't any

.....and the Moon Landing! I was at school by then.... thought we'd all be going on regular space excursions by now!

[julesjampot]

Salleh, you are so interesting i could listen to you all day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb_OE...yer_detailpage

this was the first record a boy bought for me, and its still popular now dont make em like this

[beechlover]

Funny how things come to mind...I was just sitting here on the porch reading a snippet of my husband's current read...The Road Less Traveled and Beyond...and there was a section about coming to terms with limits...that aging is about gracefully accepting the limits your body and situation put on you. Now, when my mom hit 50, she decided she was OLD and didn't really do much to counteract that !
I'm in Phys Therapy for back issues, and one of the things that's hard to swallow is that there are just things I shouldn't do. I have been told not the run anymore, and I have the think about how I pick up things and tie my shoes and root in the cabints...etc. But, I am countering that by trying to get back in shape and eat better. Don't want to take it lying down !
I recently had this little epiphany that I really am getting older...not so much how I feel even, but that my experiences and worldview are very different from my friends in their 20's and 30's. I've actually encountered a bit of "ageism" ...treated differently only because you are older. I have always looked young for my age, so this is all new to me !
Neither though do I want to live in my past. There's a lot I want to experience and accomplish. Dealing with the ADD is part of that...recognizing the limits to what I can do and working with them, not just trying to beat them with brute force of will. It's not an easy transition. There's been a lot of joy in my life, and I hope there will be a lot more !
Main thing right now is, since I am not working yet, I am lonely. I can spend too much time in my head! I've been exploring some issues from childhood, and had a little breakthrough with that, realizing why I bottle up my feelings so much. But, I can only work with that a certain amount before I find myself slumped in my chair on the computer avoiding life .
Anyway, it's good to have a place to vent and look for connections.

I'm off to go be productive...possibly going to a farmer's market to sell a little jewelry. Playing up the artistic side of ADD!

[salleh]

JULES !!!! what a nice thing to say !!.....( tween you and me, I think I am interesting too, but quite a lot of the time ......I am a majority of one ! hee hee)

and I remember THAT song ! .....


Ah but the real difference came later ......when I was `18 it was 1968 .....being a girl in California in 1968 was fabulous ......rock concerts ....ah .......this was the first album that my True Love bought me ......Iron Butterfly .....and the infamous In-a-gadda-da-vida....

this is the orginal long version ...and it is great ...the photography is not the best, probably taken from an old black and white TV .......but the song comes through very well.......the drum solo is .....one of the most famous and best of it's time ......Peter would take the speakers and lay on the floor with his head about a foot away from each one ......

you can do it now using earphones...and it is a stereo cut ....sounds coming from bothe earphones ......

this is the very best of "Acid Rock" .....and most everyone I knew was serioulsy into acid at this time ......what an exciting time to live through ......the music ...oh g** the music ......and while I love this song ....this wasn't anywhere near the best of the groups ........

but the song itself ....wow ......

( and they even tried to do the "amoeba blob" that graced every rock concert ....only the real thing was in bright colors and one amoeba would fill the walls and throb with the beat ...it wasn't a little blob over someones face .....)


.....Oh the music ......it was something ......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIVe-rZBcm4

[Lunacie]

Oh my goodness Salleh!

I was in 5th grade when John Kennedy was sworn in as president. Our class split up and went to watch the inaguration in the homes of the only kids who had color tv. I didn't care about politics then, and I still don't.

John Kennedy was shot and killed on my 13th birthday. We were so shocked when the principal used the intercom to announce that he had just heard the news on the radio and we were dismissed for the rest of the day.

We only had 3 channels on our black and white tv: local stations that carried ABC, CBS, and NBC. We couldn't pick up PBS until Dad built a tower for our tv antenna. He put it at the corner of the porch and we soon learned that we could climb out the bedroom window upstairs onto the porch roof and climb down that antenna!

I didn't have a gas guzzler as my first car - Dad took a Studebaker as payment for work he had done and he gave me the car. Probably cost him $400, which was a lot in 1968.

Wasn't long till I traded it in on a Plymouth Valiant which I also drove like a bat out of he11. I remember Dad lecturing me because my tired were showing too much wear on the outside because of taking corners too fast.

I lived in a small town, only about 2,500, so everyone knew you and told your parents when you were up to something. But we weren't so concerned about what happened in other states, much less other countries.

There was a whistle mounted on the water tower that blew at 7 am, noon, and 6 pm. Seemed like that whistle governed our lives, but it was a great way to know when to get home for supper. "Dinner" was for city kids.

I watched cartoons on Saturday morning, and then the movie of the week, usually a sci-fi movie (before it became syfy), like the Swamp Monster or the Pod People or The Day The Earth Stood Still.

I wasn't an adult, but I enjoyed prime time tv shows like the Dean Martin hour, or the Red Skelton show, or Bonanza. Didn't everyone have a crush on Little Joe (Micheal Landon)? Not me. I thought the oldest brother was more handsome.

No one warned me that if a girl went steady with a boy two years ahead of her, after he left for college you wouldn't have any dates the last two years of high school because the other boys were dating someone else by then. No date for the Junior Prom or the Senior Prom either.

Folk music! Yes! The Four Seasons. The Beach Boys. Peter, Paul and Mary. And then Sonny and Cher got their own tv show! The first two albums I ever bought were Sonny and Cher and the Everly Brothers. What wonderful harmony!

I remember sitting around the table after supper and playing Monopoly or Gin Rummy or Black Jack with Mom and my sisters. Sitting on the porch and playing jacks with my sister, or playing Rotten Egg with the neighbor kids, or jump rope chants like "Cinderella" and "AbberDacker."

Wading in the ditch at the edge of the street after a heavy rain - before they put in storm drains. Climbing on the combines that were waiting for my dad to repair them and pretending they were an airplane. Using the flat bed trailer for a stage.

Not having a dishwasher - that was my job. Not having an air conditioner, just fans. We would spray water on the cement front porch and set the fan to draw that cool wet air into the house.

[T-Rex65]

I suggested a forum for people diagnosed late in life, and got some positive responses. I have no idea if this is being given serious consideration or not.

The way I see it, we are talking about two different reasons for starting an "older ADHD" group. One is the fact that we are in different places in our lives than the younger members. Yes, we do have issues with our meds interfering with our blood pressure, making the mortgage payments, sending kids to college, and things like that. Many of us are trying to hold down jobs rather than trying to get through school. Not that either one is necessarily easier than the other, just different.

The other reason for a group or space dedicated to older members is the fact that most of us were well into our adult years when we were diagnosed. I believe that having this sudden revelation in middle age is a very different experience from growing up with the diagnosis. Again, not harder or easier, just different.
This does *not* mean that I think younger members or those who have grown up knowing they had ADHD should be excluded or made to feel unwelcome. And I didn't have a particular age cutoff in mind, either. If you feel that our experiences resonate with you, then you belong with us. If our experiences are completely foreign to you, but you find them interesting or enlightening, then you belong with us, too.

[theloner]

bumping it

[KellySG]

Just diagnosed a few months ago. I"m 40. I'm really conserned with how this will change when menopause hits. From what I hear, it gets worse.

[Lunacie]

Originally Posted by KellySG

Just diagnosed a few months ago. I"m 40. I'm really conserned with how this will change when menopause hits. From what I hear, it gets worse.

People with ADHD are smart and stupid and everything in between.

Same thing with PMS and menopause and how ADHD affects women.

For some menopause is a crazy time, for others it's a relief.

Usually it's somewhere in between.

[salleh]

At 62, I am just now coming to grips the aging process, and realizing that I simply can't do a lot of the things I used to do, and that while I can still do some of the things, not as long .....

.....and every time I find myslef resenting not being able to bounce down the street in my former fashion .....when I consider the alternative, I calm down a bit .....

.....but I constantly find myself wondering what on earth I am doing still here......and what do I have to live for ......and every time, I find myself turning to the core of my life, the foundation that served me all these years .....it is art,....creating stuff, from the simple joy of making Christmas ornaments, even if Christmas is more painful than joyful for me, and has been for more than a decade now .....

.......and also, I think that I make a difference here too, I like to think I help people deal with their lives, and at the very least, I am a cheering them on person .....my time has mostly passed, but I like to encourage those younger to keep on .....


....and also,......those of us who are hitting the last decades of our lives can and should pass on wisdom we have gained the hard way, or the easy way ....wisdom is wisdom ....

...like the difference in the world and how humans viewed it, when the age of air travel hit....there was an even more massive world difference when the internet hit ....the information revolution has impacted our lives in ways that are just now being appreciated ....

......but I still think that the biggest difference tween the ages is our frame of reference .....those who grew up with computers and those who learned to use them as adults ......

I think that is the defining difference ......

[Flia]

Originally Posted by Lunacie

People with ADHD are smart and stupid and everything in between.

Same thing with PMS and menopause and how ADHD affects women.

For some menopause is a crazy time, for others it's a relief.

Usually it's somewhere in between.

As far as I've heard.....
Women with ADHD are more sensitive to hormone changes than others. This doesn't mean that menopause has to be hell, it could just as well pass without any trouble at all.
But normal - no that I haven't heard of

[KellySG]

Originally Posted by Flia

As far as I've heard.....
Women with ADHD are more sensitive to hormone changes than others. This doesn't mean that menopause has to be hell, it could just as well pass without any trouble at all.
But normal - no that I haven't heard of

Yes. this.