As most of you know, 2020 is a census year and I think it is all about to go down for Baby Boomers. Why, you might ask? Read further.

The reminder postcard from U.S. government appeared in my mailbox 60 days or so ago and April 15 was the deadline to submit online or by phone or by mail my residence information, just in time for November elections, I assume, but more importantly the census numbers will affect the funding that our Meridian community will receive from the U.S. government. It is important. Each person must be counted.

The American population is divided into categories according to year of birth:

Baby Boomer: 1944-1964

Generation X: 1965-1979

Millennial: 1980-1994

Generation Z: 1995-2015

Let’s take a closer look.

The 2018 numbers were: Boomers (ages 56 to 76) with 74 million, Millennials (ages 40-52) with 71 million and by the 2020 census Millennials are expected to take over the Boomers when their numbers should swell to 73 million and Boomers decline to 72 million. It is expected that by 2028 Generation Z (ages 36-51) will take over.

Boomers, this is serious and we must have a plan, like breathe in, breathe out. Yes, keep the air flow going and heart pumping or we (I’m a Boomer, too!) will lose our status as the largest section of the population. Since 1944 Boomers have set the trend and led the way.

Why we sent a man to the moon, invented the microwave, discovered Oprah and the Beatles, developed designer pups, like my little KayKay (a Morkie), not to mention computers and the internet plus the flat-screen TV, oh, and chic-on-the-stick.

I ask you, without chic-on-the-stick and the Beatles, where would we be today?

Just think about it. Would we have ever twisted-around-the-clock, done the bop, and wore flowers in our hair without the Boomers? Would we have worn denim, pillbox hats, bell bottoms or min-skirts and enjoyed frozen TV dinners?

The Baby Boomer has been a strong population section in numbers since 1944. We set the rules, rejected what we didn’t like, reveled in what we did, and the world followed. We watched I Love Lucy, licked green stamps, took in a drive-in movie on occasion, dialed a telephone but also witnessed the introduction of the iPhone. It has been an exciting time.

And then in 1975 along came Saturday Night Live and our Boomer world turned upside down. Somehow it became better when we watched Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and John Belushi as they acted out things on live TV. Things we thought about but wasn’t sure if anyone else did. Our eyes were opened perhaps in a quirky way.

Yes, Boomer life became real. We witnessed by TV actual Viet Nam conflicts filmed by reporters on the ground and then in 1987 President Reagan when he said “Take down this wall.”

Y’all it’s been great. If we have never played “Boss” anywhere else, we have in life as a Boomer.

So we must keep it going. Keep breathing and loving life.

Anne B McKee is a Mississippi historian, writer and storyteller. She is listed on the Mississippi Humanities Speakers Bureau and Mississippi Arts Commission’s Performing Artist and Teaching Artist Rosters. See her web site: www.annemckeestoryteller.com