A Short Guide to Growing Older by Rosemary Sassoon

Author:Rosemary Sassoon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Guild
Published: 2019-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Reminiscences help the elderly

After I wrote Keeping Chronicles I was occasionally asked to give talks at retirement homes. There I witnessed the value of reminiscence sessions to bring pleasure and stimulate lively discussion. It also seemed to help to bring together people who had never before talked much to each other, so cheering up their rather lonely lives. Hearing that other people found their life story interesting also improved people’s self esteem.

Just recently I became involved with someone who had had a particularly interesting life, but no longer felt able to write it up. At first we thought that he could record his memoirs on a tape recorder so that I could transcribe them on the computer and print it out for him. Actually this proved not to be such a good idea as every time we went back to a certain happening it provoked more details so his memoir constantly altered and developed. A scribbled record of our conversations worked better.

This is something that families could do for elderly relatives before their memories are lost forever. How many of us regret that we did not ask our parents and grandparents more about their lives before it was too late? As people get older and memories begin to fade they may profit from more directed help to bring their memories to life. Asking questions such as ‘what are the most important things that you would like your family to know about your life?’, ‘what were the things that you have done that you are most proud of?’ or ‘what did you dream of doing when you were young, and did you manage to accomplish it?’ could assist.

This could be endless as the relationship grows, bringing immense satisfaction to both the questioner and their relatives. Finally the printout could be given to the delighted person to read over and over again and enjoy.

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