Welcome to The Jennifer Chronicles
The Jennifer Chronicles is the newish name of my original blog, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Generation X, which I use as a tagline.
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a quintessential Gen X mom! Welcome to my website, The Jennifer Chronicles, a blog and memoir about childhood, faith, family, and motherhood; an archive for a lost and forgotten generation. Posts are written with hope and love for all generations, but especially mine, Gen-X. Here’s what you get when you follow this blog:
-
Gen X News and Commentaries -
Gen X Memoirs & the Daily Photo -
Nostalgia -
Vintage Photos: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s -
Amazing Facebook community! Fun, Interesting, Politics-free! -
Funny Memes -
Field Notes from Life as Mother and Nana in the 
Heartland - Original Photography
-
Book Reviews -
Post about Generation Z -
Posts on Faith, Religion, and Liturgical Living
By the way, my name is Jennifer. My professional career is in public affairs, public involvement, public information, and public relations. Also, I am also a blessed wife, mother, nana, and Catholic convert in the Heartland. I was born in East Los Angeles and grew up as a preacher’s kid in parsonages across Rural Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas. Unbelievably, I lived in 16 different houses in 10 different towns across six different states between 1974 and 1985! Liturgical living is an important part of my life, and I love to share my faith, which I do frequently on Instagram.
I hope you stay.
Thank you so much for stopping by. Please have a look around. I hope you stay, but if you never make it back here again remember this one thing: God, our Father, knows your name.
Gen X Mom, Home in the Heartland
I live in an airplane prairie bungalow in an old neighborhood in Oklahoma City. Here is where my cup runneth over; where all my dreams of having my own family come true — one day at a time. I’m very blessed. The rural and urban landscapes that surround me form the backdrop of my life. I photograph and write about my journey, literal and spiritual, from the perspective of Gen-Xer in the 21st Century.
This is my life unfolding here on the Southern Great Plains. If you were here with me right now, we could take a walk together underneath the century-old trees that form canopies over the streets I call home. I would make you a cup of coffee or maybe some tea. We’d talk about our kids and dreams. Hopes and fears. All the places we’ve been and the places we hope we’re going. And, I’d pray for you. We’d pray for each other.
What Else Will You Find Here?
In contrast to obscene click-bait and paid posts that have invaded the Blogosphere, this blog remains an uncommon collection of commentaries and memoirs, archives and stories.
There are also a lot of pretty pictures to see.
I collect old snapshots, faded photographs, and 35 mm slides, which I love to share with readers. Although I have relatively few pictures from my youth and childhood, I’m always looking to find myself — or at least my experiences — in other peoples’ photos. I cherish high-quality images of Generation X. For me, there will never be enough, for they exquisitely tell the story of our days and times. They contribute to this archive, which now represents about a decade of my life’s work.
The Journey of Generation X
This blog is devoted to understanding and explaining the journey of Generation X, the 13th generation of Americans born between 1961 and 1981. I started writing about Generation X as a way to bear witness to my own life experiences. My latchkey days. My teenage wasteland. So they would no longer have power over me, I needed to write about the things I survived in my childhood and youth. Shining a light on the dark shadows I pedaled through on my little banana seat bike on my way to the big rocket slide has helped me cope and make many meaningful connections.
By the way, the slide was red, white, and blue. I couldn’t pedal toward it fast enough. And, I was just one in millions in a generation full of under-protected children.
The celebrated writer and historian Neil Howe said that Generation X grew up during the most anti-child phase in modern history. Later, Tammy Erickson, author of What Next Gen X?, wrote that Gen-Xers were the world’s most devoted parents. I feel I owe them both a debt of gratitude.
I hope my beloved children can forgive me for my devotion. For the latchkey years that produced these helicopter days. I’ve wanted only to preserve their innocence. That precious-glorious time in life known as childhood — when the damp forest floor of life is not lit by fear, but by fairies with gossamer wings.
So, I found my voice in writing about Generation X. Not as a celebrated historian, but as someone who lived through it.
Growing Up Gen-X
I was born in East Los Angeles in the late 1960s. This makes me a first-wave member of Generation X. (The years are 1961 to 1981.) I am the youngest of four kids. Like most Gen-Xers, I was a latchkey kid throughout most of my childhood and youth. I grew up wearing hand-me-downs, watching lots of television, and worrying about going to war with Russia. I ate a lot of cold cereal, which I loved! Cap’n Crunch and Frankenberry were the perfect companions to my Scooby-Doo, Isis, and Brady Bunch. As I grew older, I watched different shows and worried about different things, but I still ate the same cereal.
Growing Up With Terrorism
In my twenties, I worried about whether or not I’d be able to find a job with my expensive college degree. Reality Bites was an authentic narrative for many Gen-Xers. Well before terrorists blew up that plane over Lockerbie in 1988 (it killed 35 Gen X college students from Syracuse), I worried a lot about terrorism. Then, in 1995, it happened where I live in Oklahoma City. I lost a college classmate in that bombing. I have worried about terrorism my entire life. Things have only gotten worse.
My Years in Rural America
In 1974, my parents left Los Angeles and began a journey eastward. At least half my childhood was spent growing up in parsonages in rural towns across the Plains. I had a lot of fun in those small towns where I went to a lot of carnivals and county fairs and spent time on the farms of friends. But, I never forgot Huntington Beach and Pudding Stone; the orange groves, Kiddie Land, Bixby Elementary and so many other things about my early childhood in Southern California.
High School, College, Gen-Xers
I graduated from high school in 1985. There were 51 Gen-Xers in my graduating class. I went on to attend college where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in communication and political science. College was a wonderful time in my life. I treasure those years and all my memories and friends. After college, I went to work in public affairs at a large military base. It was great preparation for my career in public relations. Along the way, I did a lot of graduate work in history, geography, English, and communications.
Marriage and Family
I was married for the first time in 1991. In the fall of 1997, I gave birth to my first child, a daughter. I named her Juliette. That was the happiest day of my life. Despite all my dreams, in January 1999 I became a single mom. That was a really tough time in my life. Divorce is an experience that never leaves you and it changed me. I hope someday I can write about those events.
Even though my years as a single mom were difficult, I have a lot of great memories of that time. It was just Juliette and me for four years. We visited a lot of places and did a lot of fun things. In 2002, I met Robert at an art opening. We were married exactly one year later. Juliette was my flower girl. She was five. In 2005, my son Sullivan was born, and less than two years after that, Bridgette came along to complete our family. I am very blessed! Motherhood is the greatest adventure of my life.
Guest Posts
Chloe Koffas – Contributor
Chloe Koffas, the writer and blogger at Light From A Pixel, contributes posts from time to time. Born in 1975, she’s a mid-to-late wave Xer. Check out Chloe’s profile. She’s a great writer and I’m so grateful for her contributions and perspective.
If you are interested in guest-posting on this blog, please feel free to contact me using this submission form. On rare occasions, I accept sponsored posts. The cost is $60 per post, which includes a do-follow link.
Connect With Me
Finally, I invite you to join the Jennifer Chronicles Facebook page. I try to post once a day and respond to comments as I have time. There are more than 35,000 members, and I appreciate and pray for each and every one. Even if I don’t know everyone’s name, God, our Father, does.
Thank you, again, for stopping by!
Hi, Jennifer! Thought you might be interested in my latest LinkedIn article, titled Stop Calling Gen X “Boomer”.
Will check it out. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer!
Thank you for this amazing website. I can’t believe I haven’t found it before now. You write in that beautiful and evocative way that can’t be taught; instead, it comes from the heart. ????
I relate to so very much of what you describe and remember, your feelings about the childhood we all collectively shared as kids/teens in that sometimes strange and terrifying, at other times wonderful and freewheeling, era in time.
My name is Addie and I was born in 1977 in a tiny Minnesota town. I have three daughters (one Millennial, two Gen-Z) and have taught high school English since 2003. I still live in Minnesota. I still remain grateful that the Internet was not a thing when I was in junior high. (My favorite cereal was Cinnamon Toast Crunch).
I would love to share some Gen-X photos with you. My dad was also a high school teacher but his true passion was photography and he took thousands of pictures of my sister, brother, and our friends in the neighborhood of my childhood. This was peak 1980s: riding cheap bikes over rutted gravel roads, hot sheet-metal slides in parks, bare feet, sunburned faces, and absolutely no supervision most of the time. Think about heading home when the streetlights start blinking on around town, kiddos. Oof.
Anyway, thank you for this blog and website! I look forward to returning time and again. ????
Thank you so much, Addie. I appreciate your words so much. I poured my heart and soul into the blog. My children are in their last years of high school and work demands so much of me these days. I do keep the site up and hope to return to writing once my children have graduated. Maybe sooner if I can swing it. My heart is always with Generation X – now more than ever given the state of this country. Much love to you on the journey, jennifer
It looks like it’s been a looong time since you were on Reddit, and that GenX subreddit has really gone downhill without you (IMHO). Have you abandoned it? Hope you come back! In the meantime, hope you and your family have been doing great!
Best regards,
Mike
I think I really lost interest when I got locked out of my old account. =( And, then the spam got unmanageable. Reddit needs to clamp down on the robots. I really loved making the effort with Reddit, but it got so crazy. I feel so bad!! I’ll login today.
Hello Jennifer,
Came across your site on Pinterest and just want to say thank you so very much for what you do as “a labor of love”. Much appreciated. I, too, am a GenX’er (born 1967) and you nailed it when you stated that we were the “least nurtured” that was born during the most anti-child phase in American history. I come from parents that were pretty much kids themselves (my mother saw me as more of a young sister than a daughter she needed to guide, and would not have had me if she could of). Aside from all that, I have always thought our generation still has the coolest name, Generation X. Quite intriguing.
P.S. You are a women of faith, as I am (didn’t surprise me that I found your site 🙂
Blessings,
Angelique
Thank you, Angelique! I appreciate comments like this most of all. I have always thought we had a great name, too! I think it’s grown on us as the years and decades have gone by. Thanks for stopping by and may God bless you on the journey.
Hi Jen, I saw your post about dangerous baby gear. I actually have a collection of those old car seats. Though you might be interested?
Hi Jen, I was born in 64, and never related to the Boomer “mindset”. But, I didn’t fully relate to GenX (I first heard about it in relation to a novel by Ellis(?).
I read the article about Gen Jones and you commented about “first wave” GenX. Do you have more on that somewhere?
I don’t think I do, but I will look. Maybe in some old posts or writing. I’ll check and get back with you! Thanks for stopping by! You’re a Gen-Xer!!
Thank you for your Gen X articles. Being in HR, I have read in-depth about the varying generations for decades. Yet, your article today, literally just walked me through my life history.
I would like to add to the timeline of the past: Happily waiting at home for the telephone to ring for a possible date. Those were the days, anticipation! Anticipation no longer exists.
Wow – I’ve never thought about that before, but you’re so right. Anticipation is gone. =( Also, my phone never rang. LOL. I was like that girl in Janis Ian’s AT SEVENTEEN. Thanks for stopping by, Tracy.
HI Jennifer,
Thanks for your blog!
I have a question.
Has God shown you anything about His plan for Gen X as a generation?
(I’m a classic GenXer, latchkey kid, etc.)
I’m having trouble finding Gen Xers doing much for the Kingdom as a generation, in fact, I have a hard time finding many Gen X Christians at all.
Off course, I’ve been blessed by a few Gen X pastors, but mostly I’m seeing Boomers and Millenials working hard for the Kingdom.
Or maybe there are a bunch and they are the “dark horse” unseen silent nameless faceless ones….
I hear tons about God’s plans for the Millenials as a generation built to thrive in the End Times.
“But what about my generation?” I’ve been asking God for years, and heard no answer.
Got any ideas?
That’s a beautiful question. I’m sorry I’m just now seeing it. I’m not sure how I missed it. Anyway, recently, I was sitting in Mass and I was praying and listening for God’s voice. I wasn’t thinking about my generation, but what my spirit received was from His written word: We are not a mistake (Isaiah 44:2). We are alive because God wanted to create us (Psalm 138). He saw us before we were born and every day is recorded in His book (Psalm 139). Acts 17:26 says, “He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us.”
I hope this helps. God’s plans for us are to give us hope and a future. Anything less is all lies from the enemy. God bless you and thank you so much for this most important question. I wish I could do better answering it, but I know in my heart that God has a great purpose and plan for our generation. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Great site. I was born in 1970, which I feel is a special zone of Gen-X (like all ’69-’71’ers), because I was a child of the 70s, a preteen (80-82), teen (83-88) and adult (88-90) all within the ’80s.
Remember being excited to go to the “Album section” at Sears, K-Mart, etc…to check out Boston, or to look thoroughly at Sgt. Peppers (whom your older brother liked)…and your first album was Van Halen (with DLR)? When you listened to Led Zeppelin in the early 80s, the music was actually only a decade old at that point!
Remember the loud crunchy sound of your steel balled roller skates?
Remember your mom trying out the Dorothy Hamill haircut?
Remember your older sister singing/playing “The Rose” or “You light up my life” on the piano?
Remember “50s Day” at school, inspired by the whole “Grease” phenomena –even though the period being depicted, as with Happy Days, was more accurately 1959-1961!
Remember hearing about “more fighting” in Lebanon all the time on the news, and that Russia and/or Iran were our sworn enemies?
Remember WAITING for the skier to wipe out on Wide World of Sports? Remember falling in love with Nadia as a kid, watching her on the balance beam?
Remember the CBS “Special Presentation” that preceded Charlie Brown and other specials and how excited you got seeing it!?
Remember thinking that Evil Knievel and (later, fatter) Elvis kinda had the same cape and outfit? Remember your Evil Knievel motorcycle doll/toy?
Remember where you were when Elvis and John Lennon died?
Remember ‘mastering’ cursive?
Remember seeing your teachers smoke during a break or when you were at lunch?
Remember dressing up for the Independence Day/week around July 4, 1976?
Remember Great site. I was born in 1970, which I feel is a special zone of Gen-X (like all ’69-’71’ers), because I was a child of the 70s, a preteen (80-82), teen (83-88) and adult (88-90) all within the ’80s.
Remember being excited to go to the “Album section” at Sears, K-Mart, etc…to check out Boston, or to look thoroughly at Sgt. Peppers (whom your older brother liked)…and your first album was Van Halen (with DLR)? When you listened to Led Zeppelin in the early 80s, the music was actually only a decade old at that point!
Remember the loud crunchy sound of your steel balled roller skates?
Remember your mom trying out the Dorothy Hamill haircut?
Remember your older sister singing/playing “The Rose” or “You light up my life” on the piano?
Remember “50s Day” at school, inspired by the whole “Grease” phenomena –even though the period being depicted, as with Happy Days, was more accurately 1959-1961!
Remember hearing about “more fighting” in Lebanon all the time on the news, and that Russia and/or Iran were our sworn enemies?
Remember WAITING for the skier to wipe out on Wide World of Sports? Remember falling in love with Nadia as a kid, watching her on the balance beam?
Remember the CBS “Special Presentation” that preceded Charlie Brown and other specials and how excited you got seeing it!?
Remember thinking that Evil Knievel and (later, fatter) Elvis kinda had the same cape and outfit? Remember your Evil Knievel motorcycle doll/toy?
Remember where you were when Elvis and John Lennon died?
Remember ‘mastering’ cursive?
Remember seeing your teachers smoke during a break or when you were at lunch?
Remember dressing up for the Independence Day/week around July 4, 1976?
Remember Wild Kingdom and Mutual of Omaha? And that your older brother, had pictures of him as a kid in the 60s, just before you were born, wearing a coonskin cap…and you were never clear on who was Daniel Boone and who was Davey Crockett, because they wore the same cap…[and were played by the same actor in the Disney Movie/TV series).
Remember trying to figure out how the “Uncle” or whatever it was, replaced the father on the Land of the Lost. Your first brush with “Hollywood Actor Replacement” (or insertion, or “they’ve always been part of this show”).
Remember the annual showings, on TV of the Sound of Music and Gone with the Wind…and that it was a RBFD with one or both of your parents?
Remember thinking that “1999” (per the song) was a LONG LONG WAY OFF?
Remember…..
You’ve given me so many great ideas for blog posts for 2017 — starting with Nadia. I loved her so much, too. Thank you, Scotty. Great Gen X name, by the way. Right up there with Jennifer. 😉 My sisters had the Dorothy Hamil and Princess Di haircuts. Farrah, also. I’m still trying to master cursive.
I rarely post comments on any site but truly enjoyed reading through some of your posts. I was born in 1970. Grew up too fast, divorce etc…And have been on the helicopter parenting ride! I am trying to hard to get off it and give my kid space to be independent. He is always amazed at the stories of my childhood and doesn’t know how I survived! I don’t either sometimes?. I will look forward to reading again on here. God bless.
Funny how most demographic analysts lump people born from 1962-1964 into the Baby Boomer generation. I don’t at all relate to the Baby Boom generation. I didn’t grow up dmeonstrating for or against Vietnam, Civil Rights or any of those 60’s causes. I grew up watching MTV almost exclusively in the early 80’s (with the exception of Miami Vice) on TV, listening to Hair Metal, Arena Rock,New Wave and Grunge music, watching the Berlin Wall go down, and mourning John Lennon and Kurt Cobains death. Growing up, I was such a latchkey that I didn’t even have a key to my own house. I had to crawl through a window above my back door to get in the house when I came home from school. I had to learn how to cook, clean and take care of myself while my Mom either worked or slept. When I went to a club on weekends, I did the “80’s dance” like everyone else (you had to be there-think Bruce Springsteen “Dancin’ In The Dark” with Courtney Cox).
You’re a Gen-Xer, Tim! Welcome to your generation. LOL! Seriously – everything you mention I have heard before from first-wave Xers. I am one myself, born in 1967. But, the really first wavers — born 1961, but before 1965 — have dwelled in a no-man’s land. I relate so much to the latchkey without a key. It was the same for me. My dad use to say I’d lose the key so instead of giving it to me, they just left the house wide open all day. It was so scary going into that house every afternoon. It was not a good…Bless you and thanks so much for stopping by.
So nice to meet you too, Jen! Thanks for stopping by my blog to comment about commenting 🙂 Your family photo is just stunning! I tried to like you on FB but the main link is broken and the little one (with the rest of the social media buttons) didn’t work either 🙁 Will try again later! CC
Hi Jen,
A friend of mine just sent me a link to your blog-love it! In March 20011, you featured a guerrilla art piece located near 23rd Street in Oklahoma City.
I am the tag artist for this work, and my name is Kat Miles. My street name was KnittaByNature. I tagged several structures near Mesta Park, where I briefly lived from 2010-2011. I fell in love with that particular site because it felt isolated and forgotten, and yet the area was in the midst of rebirth. I am an Oklahoma native, and currently reside in Missouri.
I was so surprised to see my work on your blog, with your beautiful photos. Thank you for the lovely feature!
This yarn bombing sculpture was a collaboration with my friend and fine art mentor, Carla Steck. She came to visit me in Okc, and assisted with the final installation. She enjoyed this so much, that she incorporated my work/process into her future non-profit programs, which provide public education in the importance of visual art.
Thanks again for sharing my work in your blog.
Kat
Hi Jennifer,
I was wondering if you run sponsored posts on your blog.
Sorry for using the comment section, but I could not find your e-mail.
Have a nice week,
Olivia Collette
Hi Jen. Love the blog. Linked Penn Square piece at Red Dirt Report.
Cheers,
Andrew