"Women's slacks come in the same sizes as dresses and grow droopier in the crotch and longer in the legs as sizes rise. Consider the flip side: a man can purchase trousers in the correct waist measure and leg inseam length. How come they're allowed to gain weight without growing legs?"

Lorraine Lilja was the Carrie Bradshaw of her generation. For those of you who aren't familiar with the name, Bradshaw is the lead-character name of Sarah-Jessica Parker in the HBO series Sex and the City. Like Bradshaw, Lilja ranted and raved in her newspaper columns about the modern stresses put on women: shoes that hurt your feet, and aging without grace. Lacking the sex-pertise that Bradshaw so righteously puts in her fictional columns, Lilja's columns are heartfelt memoirs and observations about life.

"I like to think I'm a voice of the silvered generation."

In 2002, Lorraine published Lilja's World, a collection of some of her articles from her days writing for the Press Republican. It's a wonderful, witty book that makes you feel like you have a grandmother telling you her childhood and adult memories.

"In the Spring, a young man's fancy and a young lady's fancier"

A teenager or even a young adult in their twenties might read a few pages from this book and completely right it off as a grandmother-type who is being too sentimental about her generation. In her article entitled "Remembering Springtime," Lilja reminisces about spending her youth at the roller-skating rink and her summer's at Coney Island with a special someone by her side. She goes on to tell about how her close-knit group of friends was soon broken when war broke out and I couldn't help but think about my own generation entering an impending war and the possibility of my friends being taken off to war.

"Indigestion also contributes to a need for Bean-o"

Reading about Lilja's experiences through wartime as an adolescent is a wonderful experience for older people to reminisce over and for younger people to learn from. Listening to performers such as Ma Perkins and Stella Dallas on her generation's only form of at-home entertainment, the family radio, and being fed Crabapple Jelly sandwiches instead of Marshmallow and Fluff ones (her mom thought they were too sweet) were memories that Lilja cleverly worked into her articles. Then there is, of course, this woman's humor. She reminds me of my grandmother with her sense of humor to tell you the truth; witty and not afraid to talk about anything. In her article, "Dealing with Methane," Lilja compares the innocent flatulence of a baby with the accidental flatulence of the elderly. I wonder if anyone realizes that this is present with young males in their early twenties as well.

"Although I've seen three score and ten springs, my heart will leap the first day I smell the scent of the soil awakening"

There is one particular article in Lilja's book that I am partial too. It is an article that sums up her life, decade by decade, and it honestly couldn't be longer than 600 words. It's called "Birthdays" and it grabbed my attention as soon as I read the lines "I envy those with the self-assurance to know that the world is their oyster at 20." Talk about a swift-kick in the butt, Lilja just summed up everything that I've been thinking about so far at twenty years of age. She goes on, ranting and raving about turning the big 4- 0 and how her fifties were truly her golden years. But by the age of sixty, with the concept of retirement and the age of seventy when everyone start to say "God Bless You" when you do something with "spunk," Lilja simply states that these are times to "wonder." I feel as though, when reading this article, I am given advice on how to live my life the right way and to enjoy it whenever possible.

"This generation is sharing a guided journey"

After reading these wonderful and insightful articles, I gained a feel about a generation that I had little knowledge of and it made me think of my own pampered generation. Just look at us with our cell phones and video games. I believe that any person of any age would enjoy reading these articles both for their humor and for their stunning reality. To tell you the truth, when I bought this book to write a review on, I planned on returning it afterward so I could save a little pocket cash. But after reading it, I threw away the receipt. As Lilja said in one of her articles, "I think these experiences are important for young people."

Do you know of any good stories from the north country?

If you think our articles are fantastic, you should read what this woman has to say. She's as blunt as the old lady from Golden Girls but warms your heart like Grandma's homemade cookies do. Reading this book is like opening up a time capsule.

A little bit of Lilja Lorraine Lilja resides in Morrisonville where her hobbies, painting and sculpting keep her occupied during her retirement. She worked in radio and advertising and spent a majority of her life writing for several newspapers such as Plattsburgh's own Press-Republican where her weekly column displayed her observations and memories from her life.