Elder Interview Reminiscing Interview \"Young

¶ … Elder Interview

Reminiscing Interview

"Young people have a lot of stress today," said G.D, in reference to the lives of her children and grandchildren. This comment seemed startling, given the many changes Mrs. D had experienced over the course of her life. Mrs. D could remember the final years of the Great Depression. She was born in Charlottesville, on 1937. She enjoyed the interview process, particularly reminiscing about her childhood such as "the time when my sisters Lottie, Alene, brother Robert and I was all outside playing stick ball and my sister Alene step on a snake...We was barefooted we didn't have clothes in those days..The snake came after us and we ran, while my brother Robert took a stick and beat it to death...Man we ran laughing home." As a nurse, I recognized that this stage of life is a time when individuals often enjoy looking back and reflecting upon change and growth, and the warmth with which she recalled those events was evident. Mrs. D's life was very different from my own childhood, but her ability to dramatize it in words, as if it happened yesterday, was memorable and showed the healing power of memory to me as a nurse.

School, said Mrs. D, was very different back then: "It was a one room building and our seating was each row a different grade level. Arithmetic, reading and writing were all we had to learn in those days...When we came to Baltimore that's when I attended PS 135 up until the 9th grade at Dunbar High School." However, despite the fact that her formal schooling was limited, Mrs. D showed evidence of having an active mind, showing how intellectual engagement is conducive to healthy aging.

Mrs. D married at seventeen and had five children. She recalled: "back then [early in my marriage] I had an illegal job which was to make rubbers common know as now condoms. The marriage was not happy, but once again Mrs. D showed resilience: "I left my abusive husband to work in a factory in 1965 name Acme Packing Company as a packer on an assembly line. Despite her own fears even today, Mrs. D. said that she still tried to be friendly and to trust people.

Mrs. D. takes great pride in her independence, and still does her own shopping and housekeeping. Mrs. D said that in the long run it was a blessing, because she could always afford to 'keep up' the house, even when times were financially strained while raising a new family. It is not too large for her to take care of herself, and she does not need to move away to an assisted living community, like some of her friends.

Mrs. D. credits her health and longevity to her positive attitude and leading an active life. Mrs. D says that she eats a moderate diet, and tries not to eat too much of anything. She has recently tried to cut down on some of her favorite indulgent foods, such as sweets and bacon, but said that she never consumed them to excess during her life and never drank much alcohol. She tries to take walks whenever the weather is agreeable, and although she is somewhat stiffer than she used to be, she can still walk without assistance. She also enjoys crossword puzzles and reads books voraciously -- mysteries are a particular favorite.