I have lived through decades.

My bio could accurately report that my life journey included the ’50s and ’60s, the ’70s and ’80s and – gads! Must I go on? You get the drift. I have been around a long, long time.

But I noticed something recently about that wide span of years. Actually, it was a reminder ... that I don’t have a clear picture in my head of all that time – my time. I do not have a sense of living through distinct eras. Most of it is a rapid, constant flipping of the calendar, month after month and year after year.

I know others can quickly remember the winter of ?? when we had all that snow. Well, I don’t. I remember bad winters, just not the year. This realization hit me like a sideswipe as I was reading a book review. There was a note about how the author played off her nostalgia from 2001 and 2002 when she was much younger.

I was suddenly hit with the sad truth that I have no clear memory of those years. Oh wait. There was 9/11. A major headline. As a newsman, I remember that frightening day. But I don’t have a real sense of what my life was like in 2001 or 2002, compared to any of the other decades. In fact, all those decades when I was at work and play are kind of a blur, a blend of day after day, year after year.

Except for the ′50s when I was a kid and then the ’60s and ’70s. Especially the ‘60s.

I’ve recognized this memory dilemma before, usually involving music. Ask me to name a popular song from the ’80s or ’90s, and I can’t do it. I could guess, but that would likely be embarrassing. I just don’t have the same connection to those years.

Now saying that puts me in serious danger. So I need to quickly note that I met my wife of 40 years in 1981 and we married in October 1986. I probably should also mention we have two sons born in 1988 and 1991. So the ’80s and ’90s were pretty important to me, right? Just don’t ask me what music I liked from those years.

But the ’60s? Oh yeah, I could name more than a few. Those were the years I grew up with music in my hands. (God bless the transistor radio.) And then later, my stormy years in college were rocked by racial strife and assassinations and protests and Vietnam. All the headlines seemed to affect me personally, and the music from those years reflected that struggle.

I suddenly have a new understanding of what it means to be stuck in the past. I thought this was a general reference to how old people like to think more about the good old days than the declining years ahead. There is that, I admit. But there’s this connection I have with the ‘50s, ’60s and ’70s that I don’t have with other decades.

So what’s wrong with me? Is this normal? It’s like I don’t have a real sense of time or how periods of time vary from one another. There are dates that stand out. I do remember the year I retired and the years my parents passed. Birthdays are important, but I confess, I have to look ‘em up in my calendar book to be sure or count on my telephone or Facebook to remind me. I had a couple of important surgeries years ago. Don’t ask me when. I can never remember.

And all those wonderful vacations my wife planned that I enjoyed over many years? My wife remembers restaurants and the meals we ate. Not me. But we have lots of great photos. And some lasting memories with funny stories to share. Just don’t ask me what year we saw Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.

Because I am stuck in the ‘60s … where I seem to belong.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail the NewsTribune, 426 Second St., La Salle IL 61301.