Let me just say that for whatever reason I am stunned that there is indeed a generation gap between myself and my children. I don't know why this surprises me, but I think I was naive enough to believe that this would never happen.

I really thought I would stay relevant for a much longer period of time.

I guess things really do change that much in the course of twenty-five years. Think about our world now compared to our world at when we were 16-years-old. The differences are startling. But I somehow thought that I could transcend these differences and understand my children's world. I have fooled myself.

There is nothing specific that I can call upon, just an overall feeling that as much as I can pretend to understand my kids life, I really don't know what is like to be a teen-ager in 2009.

And this really bugs me. Sometime I think that is why our children have such great relationships with our parents. They don't pretend to understand what their grandchildren are living through. They accept generational differences and embrace their grandchildren with unconditional love.

I am still trying to build a bridge between the gap and cross it at will. This does not work.

It's like me having a facebook page. Even me Blogging is a bit odd. These are things best left to another generation. I thought I found the fountain of youth. Stay current and relevant and you will stay young. I can only use facebook as a 51-year-old uses facebook. I have no idea nor any desire to use it like Kyle uses it or how Will communicates with it.

There is something magical about new generations of kids taking hold of a world and leaving their mark on it. There is something poetic about us allowing them to do this.

It again comes down to balance. I seem to fall off my metaphoric tightrope way too often. But I will dust myself off and place one foot in front of the other as I make my way across the great generational divide.