Children of the '60s were very different from children in the '60s.

Flower children of the '60s on campus were changing the world with long hair and free spirits. They were the populous, rebellious Baby Boomers, born in post-World War II security and prosperity. The sun shone brightly on this huge wave, and they got all the attention.

As for us, born in the '60s, we were not so blessed. Even those born during President John F. Kennedy's Thousand Days don't remember the charmed "Camelot" era of culture and grace. That was a short chapter of history.

So, we didn't march on the streets as a way of life. We missed dancing on the streets in the Summer of Love. More soberly, youths coming of age were not drafted to fight in Vietnam as the war raged.

"Gen X" was too young to remember the crushing assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, the central crack in the canyon of American memory.

There are differing definitions of the end of the Boomers; that is my lived experience of the gulf separating the earlier generation and mine.

Unifying experiences, sweet and bitter, shape the character of any generation.

As little kids, we didn't go to Woodstock. It was past our bedtime. The man landing on the moon seemed like a fairy tale, a perfect end to a turbulent time of our lives.

Every new day seemed exhilarating or tragic in that eventful decade. American children could not seek shelter from the storms of the '60s.

How I remember the ride's ups and downs: the rock 'n' roll of the Beatles, the folk protest songs of Bob Dylan and the shattering assassinations in 1968, 55 springs ago.

And I remember crying myself to sleep as a small child when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was slain in cold blood. Listening to the civil rights leader's resonant voice on the radio that cruel April fourth, how wrong it was that it would be heard no more.

I remember my father frozen in grief at the June murder of Bobby Kennedy that same spring. A young girl realizes, from reading older faces, that a calamity has happened — again.

There was no nursery rhyme or reason, Mommy and Daddy. They were helpers, I said.

The '60s had many moments like these as the Vietnam War went on... and on. Truly, it was all the adults talked and argued about. In Madison, Wisconsin, we bundled up for an anti-war protest or two. We sang a civil rights anthem or two.

I loved those songs and still know them by heart. Where have all the flowers gone?

As a family, we got caught up in the spirit of the '60s. We watched and trusted Walter Cronkite as the nation's storyteller. When Cronkite turned against President Lyndon B. Johnson's Vietnam War, here was one more trusted grown-up who doubted official Washington's words and actions on the war.

They could not all be wrong, right?

The end of the era gave us children in the '60s a badge as the first generation to watch and bear witness to a culture revolution against the government and social conventions.

The Baby Boomers, who grew up in the safe, conformist Eisenhower '50s, defied traditional authority as children of the '60s. They had all the fun, sometimes it seemed, and those were the days.

That generation gave us three presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and, um, Donald Trump. Two out of three Baby Bummers.

We children in the '60s have had one president, Barack Obama, born the summer of '61 during Kennedy's Thousand Days. He was better at brilliant campaigning in soaring speeches than governing, playing the card game of politics.

Obama felt getting knee deep in political bargains and compromises was slumming. He shunned the usual suspects — like House Democrats — in socializing at the White House. He did not ask citizens to do more for the country, as Kennedy did.

When we were getting braces, a president was forced to resign in 1974 after a corrupt cover-up. Our faith in government was further shaken.

I'd say Obama didn't meet great expectations. But then there's this: We lost our illusions and innocence young, even before we could vote.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. Follow her on Twitter @JamieStiehm. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit Creators.com.

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