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Today's woman aged 60-70 refuses to treat the next few decades as a slow fade rather than one of more freedom.

The change in us is more a shift than a vibe. Few of us planned any of it. We just never got the memo.

Confidence and visibility aren't things we are willing to surrender when we turn 60.

Ask a woman in her 60s or 70s what she's not willing to do anymore, and you'll usually get an answer pretty fast. She refuses to perform. She will not shrink. And she vows to avoid treating the next 20-some years as a slow fade rather than decades of more freedom than ever.

It's akin to the moment when Dorothy stops apologizing to the Munchkins for landing in Oz and accidentally dropping a house on the Wicked Witch, and just starts walking (well, dancing) down the yellow brick road. She may not know what comes next but does it anyway. Even friends and readers admit that the social script our mothers inherited (quiet down, dress for invisibility, defer) isn't one this generation of once-mini-skirted, feminist-leaning independent chicks signed up for.

Of course, the women I talk to may not be a representative sample of all boomer women. None........

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