Yesterday covered a long distance of typical human development. A greatgrandson graduated from high school while a retired professor celebrated his 80th birthday. We didn't see any pictures of the professor as a high school student, and we don't have any information about what the student will be doing on his 80th birthday.
Searching Google for "Is there a name for the generation after "millennials"?", the next generation may be "Generation Z". Seeing young men and women yesterday in a long ceremony, I caught glimpses of joy, worry, fatigue, anticipation and energy. The Google search turns up information that Generation Z makes up 20% of the US population and that the group has more members than the Baby Boomers or the Millennials.
Graduations and birthdays naturally call up questions about the future. Two friends and I created and taught a college course called "Futures". After listening to many lectures and visitors, I guess the main conclusion I have come to is that I don't know. I realize that death comes to all mortals and I realize there are some common events in life: marriage, occupations, sickness, parenthood, abiding love. We sat among parents and relatives in leg-constraining bleachers for more than 3 hours, long enough to realize we were celebrating a milestone, a 12-year stone that began when the focus of the day were small and tentative. They are now ripe and ready to make their way toward their own 80 birthdays.
