I am a hybrid of very small Midwestern towns and inner-city Chicago, and moved to West Virginia with my husband in 2015 to be closer to our daughter, who works near DC. I spent over seven years in the Army, then worked for 20 years as an ER nurse.  I was always a musician, but living in West Virginia has allowed me to write. For those of us who were there in the 60’s and 70’s but didn’t do as much as we could have, now we get a second chance to do it all over again, but better.  Oddly, it’s actually easier to speak up when you’re surrounded by people who already disagree with you. Whether it’s a march, a protest, calls to your representatives, volunteering for a phone-bank, or writing to the local newspaper, we need to remake ourselves into “Boomers--the Sequel” and bring our grown-up children along with us;  or, follow them if they are doing the leading. Pick any issue---they are all up for grabs.     

And, never underestimate the backlash.