I know that I raised a few eyebrows when I titled a recent October Years blog post — Why Read Kids’ Stuff When the Real Thing is Available?With that tongue-in-cheek (sort of) claim I was introducing a story that begins at a 50th high-school reunion — an event that for some includes resurrecting old feelings and reviving long-dormant daydreams, which sometimes produces hints of an unexpected geriatric adolescence.
The Tanner Chronicles stories I tell, eleven of them to date, depict what I consider the ‘Real Thing,’ that time of late-life I call the October Years, when many of us face a new, challenging landscape — a place where tried and trusted answers may no longer apply.
That universe of aging, often-solitary seniors is larger than you might think. Those October survivors have spent decades dealing with life ‘up close and personal,’ creating experiences that lend depth and texture to their stories. Each of them is coping with unforeseen, life-changing circumstances — a spouse’s infirmity, financial realities that threaten their very relationship, incompatible priorities for their future, and other challenges.
And then there are the lonely ones — seeking the ‘someone’ who can help him or her overcome the emptiness of life lived alone. Granted, their stories are apt to reflect the dark side of their circumstances. But they are a resilient bunch, those October friends of mine, able make the most of an uncomfortable situation.
For a closer look at that Tanner world I invite readers to check out the following websites. Ebook and paperback editions of the books are available on the Amazon Author’s page.
— Gil Stewart’s Amazon Author’s Page
Finally, be aware that in the course of those Tanner Chronicles stories the reader is apt to meet someone they recognize, perhaps someone who looks a lot like them.
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