BoomerVille: End of an Era with Death of "Father Knows Best" Kitten (Lauren Chapin)

How many of us Boomer females wanted to be Kitten! Just like we had wanted to be Caroline Kennedy. 

Kitten was that cute younger daughter on "Father Knows Best." 

Played by Lauren Chapin she seemed to hold a special place in Jim Anderson's heart. And unlike our working class fathers who chowed down food at all hours in the kitchen because of shift work, Kitten's wore a suit as an insurance salesperson, was always home for dinner in a dining room and listened. Anderson even smiled when she said something cute. Most of our own fathers were too bone tired to notice we were there.

At the time I didn't realize Kitten was my age. Starting at nine years old. Back then, with the darkness of Depression-era parents ever present (mostly fearing another economic collapse), we offspring tended to be born old. Never be young.  

Well, Chapin has died, at the age of 80. My age. Like so many of us she did run into health problems. For her it was cancer. As the saying goes, life intervened on what we envied as an existence insulated from the realities of the pre-WWII economic boom. 

Caring teachers promised us unhappy young females It Would Get Better When We Went to College. It didn't. It only got harder. We had to keep our weight down to find a husband. We had to get through two semesters of freshman biology or chemistry. We had to figure out what to do after graduation. We worried if we would ever make those kinds of close friendships again. 

Meanwhile as I stumbled around life and lucked out with a career I kept the ethos of "Father Knows Best" alive inside me. So much so that I landed a plum assignment with an insurance company when I pitched that meme for marketing. I even purchased a modest house in Connecticut that resembled the Anderson's. I could be Kitten. I think I was.

Does this sound weird to Gen Zers? Well, the new medium of television shaped our generation as nothing else has. Or will. Prominent litigation lawyer Brad Karp, practicing at elite Paul, Weiss, mentioned in interviews how he took in "Perry Mason" and "I Love Lucy." 

On free streaming platform Tubi I still enjoy most of those.   

Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head.

Together, we liberate your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success. Meanwhile, we focus on bringing in income. That puts you in a position of strength.

Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becoming a solopreneur and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk.

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