My wife and I both turned 80 this summer.

According to those who know, we are members of the Silent Generation (born 1928-45). These folks exhibit the following characteristics: traditional values, such as hard work, loyalty, and thriftiness; financial prudence; interpersonal respect; determination; a strong work ethic; and self-sacrifice. While I agree with sociologists about the above, some of us born in this group are on the cusp of two generations, with one foot in the past of the Greatest Generation and one in the future, as exhibited by the Baby Boomers.

The Greatest Generation (born 1901-27) were our parents who lived through and experienced the hardships of the Great Depression and later either fought in World War II or worked in the industries that contributed to winning the war. If we shared the effects of these events, it was in how our parents raised us. Thus, we got many of the traditional values mentioned above from them. But we were not our parents. We had our........

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