The Greatest Generation

Pacific Beach is a seaside community in San Diego known for its young residents and raucous party scene. Yet dwarfed by the lively din are the barely-detected sounds of the Greatest Generation, nonagenarians born just a few years after the 1918 Flu Pandemic. Many bought their homes or condos over 50 years ago and remain there today, shut in by fear and necessity—alone.

On my latest Project-19 run, I met some of these remarkable people. Harry fought in WWII, toured as a jazz trombonist, taught music in the classroom, became a local principal, and in his spare time earned a master's in gerontology. Dorothy raised seven children who were the first in her family to attend college and Paul is fighting heart failure and prostate cancer yet still plans to visit his girlfriend overseas in Japan.

Their wisdom and advice were mine to behold for an afternoon or perhaps a lifetime.