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This isn’t nostalgia.
This is a reset.
Boomers Revolt is where reinvention gets real in conversations with people who refuse to age quietly, shrink politely, or disappear gracefully. Because here’s the truth no one’s saying out loud: getting older isn’t the end of the story… it’s the plot twist.
Hosted by Cheryl Becir, this series dives into bold, lived experiences at the intersection of identity, relevance, visibility, and unfinished becoming. It’s about chasing what actually matters and finally being honest about what that is.
Each episode taps into a cultural pulse point inspired by iconic songs that help us explore the emotional undercurrent of what it means to: start over (again), question everything (again), and show up fully… with zero apologies. Boomers Revolt digs into real stories of rebellion, reinvention, resilience and talks about what it actually means to grow older in a world obsessed with staying young. Boomers Revolt isn’t about slowing down, it is about knowing exactly when to turn it up.
Reinvention is the new rebellion.
About your host - meet Cheryl Becir:
She is 69. Curious as hell and not done yet.
After decades leading Not-for-profit organizations - challenging systems, and driving meaningful change, Cheryl “retired”… and lasted about five minutes. Now? She’s asking even better questions. With sharp insight, lived experience, and a refusal to play small, Cheryl creates space for conversations that are honest, layered, and deeply human.
This isn’t a retirement project. This is the next chapter, on her own terms.
Website:https://theboomersrevolt.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theboomersrevolt
Email: theboomersrevolt@gmail.com
Everything Podcasts (00:02.702)
There's a line in the song, Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell that stays with me. It's clouds illusions I recall.
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This is a song about perspective, about looking at life from both sides, and realizing what you thought you knew was only part of the view. This episode of Boomer's Revolt lives in that space. This song speaks to learning, relevance, visibility, and growing without shame. It's not a cheerleading mantra of reinvent yourself. It's something quieter.
deeper. It's about gaining clarity and self-respect and wisdom from experience. Maybe we don't look back and think, I should have known. Maybe we say instead, I didn't fail to know sooner. I learned by living. I was too busy being in it to stand outside of it. And that's what we're exploring here. The dignity of evolving.
the courage of visibility, and the wisdom that only comes from seeing life from both sides now. I'm Cheryl Bichir. I'm 69, curious as hell, and not done yet. After decades leading not-for-profit organizations and hopefully driving some real change, I retired and that lasted about five minutes. I've spent a lifetime asking hard questions of
organizations, communities, and some remarkable people. So this isn't a retirement project. It's my next chapter on my own terms. In each episode, we dig into real stories of rebellion, reinvention, and resilience, and what it actually means to grow older in a world obsessed with staying young. This is Boomer's Revolt.
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Today I'm talking with Sandy Morton. She's a woman who built her career in the high stakes world of securities law and she was the primary breadwinner of her household. She played hard, loved hard, and sometimes learned the hard way, like all of us. That identity is more layered than we think because sometimes you have to live it before you can see it from both sides. Tell me about Sandy.
It's interesting because at a very young age, I quit high school. And I quit high school because I was not enjoying it and started to be stupid. And I got called into the principal office and we had a conversation and they said to me, you should quit. School's not doing you any good. Like, you might as well just go. And I went, okay. And off I went. So,
One of the smart things my parents did was they said, okay, well, if you're going to quit high school, you can't just sit around on your rear end. You've got to do something. So I went to business college and learned all the appropriate things like bookkeeping and shorthand and law, basic law terminology, all that kind of stuff. And then I started working at 16 and off I went.
which really gave you no choice but to go full steam ahead. I mean, you built this professional career for yourself, but it wasn't an easy road. You were in a very male-dominated industry. How were you able to hang in there? I quit once, and after about three and a half years, I quit because of harassment, and I was underpaid. I'm not putting up with certain things.
Because in those days, harassment was commonplace. People would poke and prod and say things. And I think it was a really great thing I did for myself quitting. And then I came back and the rest is history. And I was there for almost 40 years. With everything you've lived through and learned along the way, do you think you're braver now or when you were younger? I think there's part of me that always was brave. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do a lot of the things that I did.
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But saying that, you know, life's short. You do get things thrown at you and you go, okay, well, that's not nearly as important as I thought it was. Or, you know, why not? What am I gonna do? Fall on my face? Well, okay, you know, I guess I did. You know, so. And you got up and you're still here. Yeah, so, you know, I'm way more open to it, I think, now than I used to be, which is.
I find interesting because I know a lot of people who are age are the exact opposite. Well, I think they got to a point in their life where they're satisfied or, you know, it is what it is and why do I need to change? I don't know. I figure life is short, so why not?
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Because everything is changing around us. We're on the crazy train going to crazy town. What do you feel most rooted in now? Is anyone ever rooted? I think there's areas of which I feel rooted, like my children. know, like I absolutely adore my kids. I feel secure in where I live because of my financial
means of the past. own where I live, so I don't have to worry about my day-to-day rent, and that is huge. I think I'm lucky that I don't have to struggle with that. Rooted is an interesting term because I'm happy where I am in my life. I'm confident where I am. Rooted, I don't know. Like, rooted to me, I...
don't know whether I call it that. for example, if you were to talk to your younger self, you know, at this point, the woman who had been carrying so much, what would you tell her? The way to go. What would you? But I'd also say, really think about what you're about to do. If it's a life-changing decision, although when you're young, half the time you don't even know that.
You're not even thinking about it. Yeah, yeah. I would be truthful with yourself. Like why you're doing that. Like not necessarily the ramifications of that decision, but be honest with why you're doing what you're doing and have more confidence. Like I lacked, I was so naive and I still can be naive sometimes, believe it or not, but.
I was so naive and I lacked so much confidence in certain areas. Certain areas like, look at me go, but certain not so much. maybe that just comes with age and wisdom. I don't know. But for me personally, I think I needed to believe in myself a bit more.
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When we look back, I think it's easier to see those moments from both sides. It's like looking at the world as it was then and now looking at the world as it is now. Sometimes I think what felt so cutting edge at the time can really start to look like strength or even wisdom. You went on to build a successful career and you were the primary breadwinner in your household. That wasn't the usual story at the time.
When you look back on that chapter of your life now, how do you see it? Well, he was in the film and television industry, which is never a constant income ever. And it was important for us to have, if possible, one of us at home with the kids. And the only way that was going to work was that if I worked.
And so he could stay home. And because it was the nature of his work, he could. So that's how it started. Did it feel heavy for you taking on that major role? At times, I would say it probably did. But in the beginning, was, yeah, well, if, you know, that's how it's got to work. wasn't, it was not some brilliant decision. It was just that if we want one of us at home, this is how it has to be. As time got
on and where again, the area that we lived in and you're surrounded by professionals. My income wasn't a professional level, but nobody wanted for anything. You would not have been able to tell that I wasn't a professional. So yes, it was a challenge financially for quite a number of years. said you loved working in securities law. I did.
certainly gave you something financially, but what else did it give you having made your way up, you know, on your own, on your own terms? I think I had a, the one goal I always had my entire life is I wanted to own a home. So I set out with that goal in mind. And why I was so lucky with my work is that
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The two fellows I worked for were total opposites of one another. One was a, he was a promoter. He was a lawyer, but he didn't practice law. The other one was one of the most humble people you'll ever meet in your life. And I felt, and I still say this, if you're lucky enough to meet one person like him in your life, my God. And he was it. He, like, it was such a treat.
So I was very lucky that I had kind of both sides of the spectrum attached. anyway, and we all got along and, you know, we loved being together until it wasn't. Was there a moment when you thought in your career or along your path that if I'm not doing this anymore, who am I? Who would I be? Yes, I did go through various times when it was like, oh man,
What if I hadn't made that decision? And I have very few regrets, but if I had to go back, I would have finished school and I would have perhaps seen what I was capable of. I think with me choosing that, I felt I didn't have the opportunity because I was concerned about surviving and providing for the family and
I mean, that sounds really serious, but it was a choice I made and it was great. I love my kids and I didn't miss anything and blah, blah, blah. Right? When you look back, is there something you were striving for then that now you're no longer striving for? Well, I guess I'm confident in myself. Like I still, you know,
question and I'm a huge worrier, but I think you get to a certain age, if also you're financially able, that I'm pretty proud of what I did, you know, like it wasn't common, which is why I brought up about leaving high school because I wasn't going to because I've kept it hidden for so many years because
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People are judgmental and full stop. And like even up until probably six months ago, these people I've known for three, four years, I could see the look on their face when they found out and the subject was dropped, like bang, dropped. It's so courageous. I mean, it's so courageous and brave. This is courageous and brave. What does strength look like to you now? Confidence is a lot of it.
I think it's a really good example. And I hope that, well, if anybody listens to it, that they can see that they can do things that aren't necessarily the status quo. But you have to work hard and you have to be willing to sort of go with the flow, which is interesting because I hated change.
I just wanted to all stay the same. So it was probably until I was 50, and life through me changes that I went, okay, so I can't necessarily dictate because for a lot of years that's what I did was dictate what happened in life, that it's going, okay, well, life isn't always what you think it's gonna be. So you better adapt or
you're going to turn into this bitter, miserable, know, honka person. So now I'm pretty good with change. When we talk about seeing life from both sides now, I think relationships might be where that shows up the most. Many folks who married young are reassessing their relationships later in life. In fact, boomers now have the highest divorce rate of any generation.
It's called gray divorce and it's surged, tripling for those over 65 since the early 90s. You're part of that story, Sandy. When did it become clear to you that that was the path you needed to take? A lot of people, including my ex-husband, didn't fully understand why. Because in appearances, I had this wonderful marriage. I, you know,
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You had the house and you had the dog and you had, you know, I could do what I wanted. was a huge, softball was huge in my life and I played on two or three teams at a time. So it wasn't understandable because on the surface it all looked great. But I was unhappy for probably 10 years before I left. And I felt when I wanted to, I could not.
because my responsibility was to my children. They were young teenagers and I felt that if I left at that time, it would be a disaster. Now, whether that's true or not, who knows? But in my mind, forget it. Because I did have a good life in a way. We didn't fight, it wasn't abusive, it was just like we were roommates. Yes. Right?
growing in different directions. That's right. So it wasn't like it was this awful thing you hear about all these people getting divorces because of, you know, the bad reasons. But there was on my end of things, respect and honesty and integrity. I had lost those. So I didn't want to go through my whole life
Sure, I could have done it. And I think there's a lot of marriages out there where it's like that. But for me, that didn't work. So those were your non-negotiables. Really, right? Yeah, yeah. In moving on. And then there was life events that also pushed me to finally do it because my life was fine. It wasn't like it was terrible. But, you know, I got a few things thrown at me that
Anything that stands out that we want to share? Cancer. That'll do it. you know, yeah, yeah, because I got a cancer diagnosis, which was, you know, in the grand scheme of things, a baby cancer. But when I found out about it, I didn't know what was going to happen. Like, was I having chemo? Was I having radiation? you know...
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were parts of me going to be chopped off? I didn't know. But I felt I am not liking where I am in my life. So how fair is that? Like what happens if I have to go through six months or a year and my husband has to look after me and then I go see you later? Well, that to me wasn't fair. yeah, so to me, I thought, okay, well,
Now's the time because that wouldn't be fair to him. To go through all that and then say, okay, by the way, you know, I don't like you anymore. That was an incredibly thoughtful way you looked at your marriage. It wasn't just through the lens of how it ended, but through the lens of what was fair for both of you. Not everyone is able to step back and see a relationship that way. Looking back now, what did that experience teach you?
I'm clearly not any good at it, but you know what? God, I think that the man I married was a very kind, smart person, but I think I was really gullible and naive. I don't think I thought it through properly, right? And I've always been like that. think now, I think through things way more than I ever used to. I've just always went with it.
If a younger person asked you for advice about marriage, what would you tell them?
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you
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Yeah!
As for an advice, was just, I just think you'd have to be, okay, I want to marry this person. And again, I'm not any good at this. So I'm just telling you my opinion. I think you need to be honest with what do you want? Like, and look into the future, even though you can't tell it. Like, you know, in 10 years, 20 years, is this somebody, do you have the same ideals? Do you, like, is the person,
truly honest, right? Look at their parents. You know, like if you see, like say you're with somebody and the parents are bigoted or racist, you know, you can try really hard not to be that person, but it is still who you grew up with. So, you have to look at all angles is what I'm trying to say. But again, like I apparently sucked at it. So, you know.
However, I have two wonderful children, so there you go.
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I think looking back is something that comes with age. Like looking back at our lives and finally seeing things from both sides. Maybe sometimes for the first time. Through all those chapters, sport was always part of the balance for you. Softball in particular was a big part of your life. I like sports period, but softball was my baby. I was good.
And in, I think it was grade nine, I was asked to play with the BC women's and all that kind of stuff. But I think in part, now this is something I was thinking about the last couple of days, which I probably never would have, but because one of the things I found being the income earner was a lot of the social stuff didn't take place.
because my husband was such that he was very happy to be home on his own. And because I was not around the typical, typical women that stayed home and looked after their children, that social part didn't exist. So because I am a very social person, softball, which I loved, also was my social outlet.
I coached the kids and I coached teams. And then when I wasn't as happy at home, it was an escape. And I loved it. So it was easy. And I was pretty good at it. So it was an easy thing to do. And I only stopped at 60 because I was getting hurt, bones were being broken, and my little tiny ego, which was apparently quite big, wouldn't...
It was, apparently it was. I wouldn't allow myself to play my own age group because my ego said, nope. So I was playing with these 20 and 30 year olds, which, you know, I was slow as a turtle. you know, as you get older, you move all your positions around to ones where the younger ones are better. So at 60, I just went, no, I'm out. There you go. I did golf and pickleball.
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And you've won a couple of awards in pickleball, haven't you? Well, the F-bomb award, I had the inaugural F-bomb award. I did. The first couple of years, I did nothing for about a year after I quit softball, sport wise. And at that point I'm on my own and blah, blah. And I went, I am going to go out of my mind.
if I don't do something physical, because I like activity, even with not just sport, I just like being active. I was determined. The hard Sandy came out for a little while because I wanted to be the best that I could be, whatever that was going to be. Like I didn't expect, you know, Olympic level. I just wanted to be whatever I could be the best at. And then that changed after a while, you know, when you're my daughter,
got cancer about three years ago and that really changed my perspective on life, let alone me having cancer. It was one of probably the worst moments of my life. But nonetheless, it changes that drive to like things get put in perspective.
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You've seen cancer from both sides, first fighting it yourself and later standing beside your daughter as she faced it. We think we understand illness when it happens to us, but experiencing it through someone you love, especially your child, it must bring an entirely different perspective. Well, I don't think you can. Like, you know, it was around Mother's Day about three years ago and
And I will bring this up because it's important for the younger people to know this, that through COVID, she didn't have her regular testing, her pap tests and all that kind of stuff, but knew something wasn't quite right. And anyway, the end result was sure enough, you've got cancer. And when she made that phone call to me, it was awful. It was one of the worst things.
I've ever experienced. It's not supposed to happen to them, but she came out of it wonderfully well. But again, because of my part in my life, I also retired very young. I retired, that's a whole nother subject, but I retired at 57 and not by my own choice. So I was able to be available for her. Like she never missed a day of work.
even though she went through hell, because I was able to pick her up and drive her to work. I was able to take her back to work. I was able to take her to her appointments. I was able, you know, to do whatever it took so her life was as normal as it could be. So, I will be forever grateful and thankful that I was able to do that. For sure. Those are the ups and downs of life we go through.
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You opened the door to a really good question about retirement. You were pushed into retirement. So what was that like for you? It was huge because it, you know, I loved my work, my job, the people, and my job just sort of was taken out from underneath me. And that was the end of that. And I was had six months pay that I never received. And it was heart wrenching, actually, because we were like a family.
So it was really, really difficult. But I think because of all those other things that had gone on in my life, it was like, okay, well, what are you going to do? So I wrestled with, do I go back to work? Do I... And I knew at that point, I didn't want to go back into the same career. Do I volunteer? So it took a long time.
Again, because I was able to do that. If I was forced into having to get another job immediately, this would be a whole different story. So if somebody gets something like that thrown at them, I would say, depending on the point in your life, like at my point I was 57, if you have a choice, do something that makes you happy. Do something that's going to fulfill you in other ways. Sandy.
Every generation has a rebel, a villain, a disruptor. Who is Sandy? Oof. Would you quit asking me all these deep questions? if I had to pick with those options you gave me, I would probably pick more of a rebel than a disruptor because I don't know whether I was confident enough to be a disruptor. I don't think I've ever been a, well,
I mean, maybe, maybe certain people might think I was a villain, but I don't really think so. I think I'm just who I am, right? Like I'm out there. Life, you know what? Life, you should enjoy life. You know, there's too many people that something goes wrong and they're depressed or they can't deal with things. again, I go back to the integrity and the honesty. You know, you can only do what you can do. And I...
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firmly believe is people try their best. And like I didn't get married hoping to get divorced. Like somebody asked me that, yeah, somebody asked me that not that long ago, like within the last year, like why would you leave a marriage after 30 years? I went, I mean, I answered, but I also thought it was a dumb question. Those life experiences like marriage, kids, career, and divorce,
Sometimes they really help shape who we are. But when we look at the path we've traveled, it's hard not to feel some regret. Do you feel regret? There's very little regret. There's a couple of things I regret. What I would have done is I perhaps would have made some different choices. And now I feel that I never want to close the door to learning.
and experiencing things, which I think a lot of people our age, they've gone, yeah, I've worked hard or I've gone through life with its challenges. Now I'm just, I'm happy where I am and that's just great. And that is great. But I never want to get to a point where I'm not willing to learn from either the good or the bad or someone else. Absolutely. Thank you. It was awesome. You're welcome. You're welcome.
You're awesome! As we close today, I'm thinking about what it means to see something from both sides. Don't abandon what you once believed. Don't feel shame about who you used to be. I think we should celebrate the fact that we're living our way into understanding. Having perspective isn't proof that you were wrong. It's proof that you stayed in the game long enough to learn.
Like the song suggests, we don't outgrow ourselves. We expand. We hold wonder and we hold disillusionment. There's the certainty and there's the questions. There's a version of us we didn't know yet and the version of us who knows a little more now. Maybe wisdom isn't about having it all figured out. Maybe it's about being able to say,
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I've seen this from both sides now, and I'm still here. Still learning, still loving, still becoming. This is Boomer's Revolt. I'm Cheryl Bichir. Until next time, keep growing. Not because you were flawed, but because you're alive. Thanks for listening.
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