A Life in Magazines

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately - this is such a big year for me and my family. Major milestone birthdays, my youngest graduating from high school, empty nest soon and a few other things have really forced me to not only look ahead, but to look back.

I was sitting on my steps and going through my pile of magazines for recycling and I started to reflect back on the thousands of magazines I have read in my life and how they have reflected my growth (or lack thereof!)

Highlights - I remember these from the doctor's office and what I remember most was Goofus and Gallant. Does anyone else remember that? Can you imagine them using those titles today? I just always thought that Goofus was a klutzy person and today it has much more negative overtones. Gallant was always so polite - Goofus? Well, I sure felt more like him most of the time.

Teen Beat/Tiger Beat - These are the magazines that defined my preteen years. Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy pictures were always torn out and put up on my walls. I knew all about Bobby's trains and David's "desires". I was 13 - what did I really know about desires. But I did learn that boys are just as fickle as girls.

Seventeen - This was the magazine that taught many of us about fashion, hair and makeup. Oh yeah, and BOYS! What they like, how to impress them, how to dress for them and so much more. Sex was not really mentioned, but I seem to remember a lot of questions about "petting". I believe that at 17 many of us were past petting (it was the 70's after all).

Cosmo - Oh wow, the first magazine that approached sex like it was something we gals deserve, not something that we just do. And the clothes - I remember trying so hard to emulate how the models dressed - if only I had been that skinny! Remember the "Bedside Astrogler"? or how about the quizzes "How good are your Man skills?"....lol. Nowadays, it more like "How good are your Peri meds working?".

Good Housekeeping/McCall's - Remember Betsy McCall? How about Can this Marriage be Saved? These are the things I read when I was first married. These magazines had great recipes and dinner ideas and taught me how to first think about decorating.

More/Oprah - These days other than the decorating magazine I read for my business, I love these two magazines. They appeal to me on so many levels - written for a mature woman, thoughtful, smart, witty and insightful. Articles that make me think about myself and how the world around me works.

I am thankful to have had these magazines to help me throughout my life. Each one of them has given me something different, but something I needed at that time in my life. I only wish I had kept some of them - just for the memories.

of a Life in Magazines.