Baby to elder boomer

I recently signed up for Medicare, as I will be turning 65 in a few months. I was part of the Baby Boomers, now it seems I’m an “Elder Boomer.”

I’m scared and a bit overwhelmed. I experienced the holes in the system when I was part of the Sandwich Generation and was taking care of my aging mother while still having children at home to raise. It would be lovely to think that I won’t need the help that my mother needed, but that would be foolish. The social safety net has more than a few holes for people to slip through. We are going to need better and more services for the growing elder population.

It’s imperative that we contact our legislators, here and in Washington, to let them know that we are a very large voting bloc whose needs should be met if for no other reason than we have earned the right to grow old with grace and dignity.

We can do that if Social Security and Medicare are properly funded and overseen.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Baby to elder boomer."