The Lost Decade by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1939)

I first read "The Lost Decade" several years ago and was reminded of it recently when I read "Babylon Revisited". Both stories are looking back on a prior decade where something major was lost in someone's life. In "Babylon Revisited", Charlie Wales lost his family in the heyday of the Roaring Twenties. In the "Lost Decade", Louis Trimble lost a whole decade to alcoholism. Now things are looking up for both men, but while they have both recovered physically, they'll never recover fully from their emotional losses.

I can personally relate to both of these stories in another way. As a middle-class 50-something parent who spent the last decade trying to provide for the family and make sure ends met, I suddenly realize, "Wow! My kids grew up! When did that happen?" I should have paid more attention.

For intertextuality, Harry Chapin's 1974 hit "Cat's in the Cradle" is the same story. While much of Fitzgerald's writing is autobiographical, this story has got to be as old as humanity. Except for fading memories of verses from old poems, I can't immediately think of any other prior text examples.


References:
"Babylon Revisited, by F. Scot Fitzgerald (1931). Ted Bogart. web 2011.
"The Lost Decade". Short Stories, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Steve Thomas. eBooks@Adelaide. 2009. web 2011.
"Babylon Revisited". Short Stories, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Steve Thomas. eBooks@Adelaide. 2009. web 2011.