The war ended. We were tired of being angry, dirty, and hungry. We were still young and we wanted to enjoy life. We traded in our sunflower seeds, organic veggies, and pot for cheeseburgers and beer. Bell bottoms went out of style; bras were back in. We wore matching clothes with little horses, Hang Ten feet, and many labels. Boys wore brightly colored Polos and pants decorated with little animals. Girls wore khaki skirts and button-down shirts. We cut our hair, danced the shag to 50’s music, and decided money was not so bad after all. We owned Apple 2 C’s, shopped at the malls, and spent lots of money on credit cards. We were Yuppies! We were young, urban, professionals. We worked hard and played hard; we made lots of money and spent lots of money.
We liked to look young and act young. We raised our kids to be our "friends” and wondered why they didn’t behave. We learned the word dysfunctional: anything that was wrong with us was a direct result of some stupid mistake our parents had made. We were not to blame for anything we did. We built big brick houses and drove nice cars. Our children went to soccer practice, dance lessons, French lessons, and swim team. We traded in our Apples for IBM’s and worshipped Bill Gates. We watched in amazement as the cold war ended, Russia was no longer “the Evil Empire,” and the wall between East and West Berlin came crumbling down. We thought we were invincible and that we would be young forever.