What? We’re going back to the beginning of the alphabet?? I can’t keep track of who is in Gen Z and the only reason I know who millennials are is because it’s right there in the name.  Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha? I guess it would have helped if there were more letters after Z but so be it.

Anyway, the Alphas are those born between 2010 and 2024, the first generation to be born entirely in the 21^st century. Maybe that’s how they got the Alpha handle. They are practically born with smartphones in their hands (and can type on them with 2 thumbs) and have been in front of computer screens or tablets for their entire life. That makes them super-empowered and quite likely to lord it over us until baby boomers are just a memory.

The amount of time they have already spent online will unquestionably exceed all prior generations. This constant exposure to technology is a bit of a social experiment, in that no one knows the consequences of such intensive experience.  Experts surmise that such a concentration could reduce their attention spans and make social interaction problematic.

Oh, and remember the pandemic? So does Gen Alpha and they remember virtual learning and Zooming giving them an unprecedented close-up view of how the educational system has changed. For the better or the worse? Who knows, but Gen Alpha will find that answer. It is predicted that 1 in 2 Gen Alphas will get a university degree. Ironically, many Gen Zers are forgoing college to pursue trades such as plumber, electrician and welder. Wish I could be around to see how that works out.

It’s been said that Gen Z is using technology as “an escape,” while Gen Alpha uses technology “to live and enjoy their life.” Rather than viewing learning and gaming as two separate activities, Gen Alpha sees them as the same thing. You could say they are experiencing gamified learning.

So, our future, in the short time we have left, may ultimately be in the hands of gamers with short attention spans. What could go wrong? At least they are avid environmentalists.

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.

It’s very difficult to recall a past event accurately. It’s even harder with someone who was with us in that time and place. For one thing, there is selective amnesia. As in the case of the ninety-year old man who leaned over and gave his wife a kiss. She looked up and said, “What was that other thing we used to do?” And beyond that, there is selective perception. Think travel tour when pictures are shared at a reunion. One fellow traveler has 200 shots of plants and flowers. Another has only architecture. A third has all birds.

An educational theorist describes story comprehension of children of poverty as non-linear. Instead of following and then repeating a story arc, impoverished children tend to absorb random instances of pain, joy, dismay and anger. So, the Cinderella story is about a beautiful dress and cleaning the floor and a prince and a mean sister and glass shoes. No order. Perhaps we do something similar looking back on the pages of our life story. The intense moments stand out, if only for us.

Some folks, as they age, forgets everything but their grudges. Like chunks of meat in a stew, after a time, bitterness can be so marinated with all the other ingredients that it’s hard to isolate the original beef floating in the gumbo of time and place. One of us is cosseting the peas of insult and pain while the other chews on the carrots. So little of our life-recall overlaps in the Venn diagram of our togetherness.

Grandmothers, sometimes, would soft focus in the middle of a reminiscence and remark, “That was when I was pregnant with…” And I could tell they were watching a home movie, behind their eyes. It seems we all have walk-on roles in someone else’s movie. Which makes it so difficult to reconstruct the past, to salve hurts, to make up for pain when editing scenes from our shared existence.

Just ask VFW members as they try to tell their respective stories of a particular battle. Even if they were part of the seven soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima, the personal experience of each would be unique. And talking of World War II veterans, my father-in-law refused to recount war stories. “If you were there, you would know what it was like. If you weren’t, I can’t recreate it for you.” There’s a certain honesty in all that. A realization that a moment in time, for each individual is beyond reincarnation.

Retired trainer, and writing instructor, Joe Novara lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Writings include novels, short stories, a memoir and various poems, plays, anthologies and articles. Read more at https://freefloatingstories.wordpress.com/

Randy and I were lucky to connect before COVID forced lock-downs and remote computing jobs, so we commuted between our homes, creating our own bubble and shutting out the world. Until spring stir-craziness turned our minds outward. Then we imagined a long gray ribbon stretching miles through the countryside. Not a road – a bike trail.

I hadn’t ridden a bike in decades though an ancient Cruiser gifted to me by a friend hid in my garage because riding alone through my city neighborhood had seemed dicey. Randy was bike-less because he’d lent his ten-speed to a car-less coworker needing transportation. One day the friend and a car collided. The rider made it. The bike didn’t.

As a child and teen, I’d spent hours riding my green Schwinn “no-speed” around my suburban development. But now I no longer had the slender shape and iron legs of my younger self or the sense of balance that made for riding no-handed.

When we finally hoisted our bikes off the rack at the nearest bike trail head, we were ready for action. The ribbon of trail stretched ahead and flowed behind us. We found ourselves unwinding the years, whooping like kids as we rode side by side. Randy had been a social rider as a kid, hanging out with a pack of neighborhood boys on bikes. They’d done stunts and ridden around the city. I’d lived too far from town to get anywhere by bike, and I was a solitary rider. Randy became the biking friend I’d never had, and to him, I became “one of the guys.”

On the trail we were the old fogies, the ones riders on thin-tired racing bikes with toe-clips sped past while calling “left.” We didn’t care. We enjoyed the sunshine and the hedgerow scenery: wild bergamot and compass flowers, sparrows and wrens, territorial chipmunks darting across the trail. After a few outings we became the riders calling out “left” to walkers and skateboarders. We were hooked. Randy and I rode through summer into fall. The amber alder leaves and crimson Virginia creeper on tree trunks mimicked a child’s crayon drawings. Flocks of mallards and starlings flew south. The earthy scent of decaying leaves and wild grape raisins reminded us that our trail time would soon end. So, one Saturday we started mid-way on our customary trail. Our goal: ride to the end and buy ice cream cones at the shop Randy remembered from when his legs were young enough to pedal the entire trail both ways. We retraced his nostalgic trip, buying waffle cones on the last day the shop was open. When rain clouds chased us back, we broke our record time in what we hoped would be the first of many seasons.

Jeanne Blum Lesinski

No seriously. What is the word I was thinking of not more than an hour ago?

Has this happened to you? Does it worry you? Do you think it’s early onset Alzheimer’s?

How do you differentiate normal brain aging from dementia?

I’m glad you asked. Loads of boomers are freaking out when they can’t find the book they had in their hands just minutes earlier. You forgot why you went into the kitchen? We’ve all done that. Can’t find the car fob? No biggie. Finding the fob in the refrigerator and not recognizing what it’s used for? Uh-oh. Senior moments can morph into Alzheimer’s but you need to know the difference between that and normal cognitive aging.

Normal cognitive aging starts at age 40 and affects 3 areas of cognition, and they can shift at different rates.

Processing speed is how long it takes you to see something, think about what it is and respond.

Crystalized intelligence is the knowledge, vocabulary and skills you’ve acquired over a lifetime of experience and education.

Memory is the ability to recollect from your past and learn new information now.

In normal brain aging, the crystalized intelligence stays intact. However, processing slows down – as much as 50 percent by age 80. Memory decreases as well and can fluctuate from one day to the next.

Forty percent of us will experience memory impairment by age 65, but not go on to develop dementia. You might not be able to retrieve someone’s name when you see them but you still recognize that you know them.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a term to describe more significant memory loss. About 16 to 20 percent of Americans over 60 have MCI and about 10 to 20 percent of them develop dementia each year.

Want to check for MCI?  Take the free Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination (SAGE), developed by Ohio State University. It won’t give you your results but you will probably have a pretty good idea how you performed. If you’ve been able to understand what you’ve read here, odds are you don’t have MCI.

Want to help prevent MCI? There’s lots of steps you can take. Aerobic exercise and lifting weights aids your brain. Treat your blood pressure and other medical issues. Stimulate your brain with games and puzzles. Try continuing your education. Have a sense of purpose. Socialize often. Get treatment for depression.

None of these things will guarantee you will be MCI free or not succumb to Alzheimer’s, but doing nothing won’t help either. Just don’t forget to do them!

Jay Harrison is a writer and creative consultant for DesignConcept. You can also visit his author page here. His newest mystery novel, Rio Puerco Demise is available on Amazon. His first mystery novel, Head Above Water, is also available on Amazon. But that’s not all. You can also purchase the Best of BoomSpeak on Amazon.