The two boys hopped on the freight train as Cadot, the old Ojibwen man, watched. It was a dry, windy day, typical for these Dust Bowl days of the 1930’s in America. Even though the most profound effects were in the Midwest, most of the country was affected in some way.
The two boys were from a poor white family in town. They came out to the area around Cadot’s cabin near the railroad tracks to pick blueberries. Northern Michigan was renowned for its blueberry crop. The boys picked the berries for money to support their family.
After picking as many blueberries as they could carry, the boys would hop on a passing freight train and sell their blueberries at every stop. They would ride another freighter back.
One day, the older boy came to pick blueberries alone. Cadot asked where his brother was, and he replied that he had left home after they had fought. The boy was 15 years old.
Almost ten years passed. The Dust Bowl was over, and World War II was firing up. Cadot had a visitor, and it was the boy who left home. He had come home to join the Navy. He had been sending his family money from Baltimore. When the boy left, Cadot grieved and didn’t expect to see him again.
After the war was over, there was a knock at the cabin door. There stood the boy, now a man, home from the War. His seven-year-old daughter was with him.
The old house was going to be destroyed. Industrial development. She barely got there in time before it became a victim of the wrecking ball.
They stopped work for her so she could retrieve what she wanted. She had to be quick. She ran from room to room, snatching and grabbing.
She ran into the nursery and there were her books. Her childhood lived in those books. One of the workers helped and she packed them up. Nancy Drew. Huckleberry Finn. More.
She loaded them in her car as the memories battered her brain. Thinking of her family, she cried.
What is gerontology? Gerontology is the study of the social, cultural, behaviorial, health, and other aspects of aging and older adults. As the population ages, and the baby boomer generation is currently the older generation, the study of gerontology as a job gets increasingly popular. Gerontologists or geriatric specialists work in hospital settings and in private practice.
Gerontologists are advocates for older adults. The needs of older adults cannot just be lumped into one big category. They vary based on the health and gender of the individual. The needs of older individuals include transportation, medical care, living arrangements, legal needs, and nursing care, just to name a few. If you are an older adult and you have to enter a hospital, ask if they have a gerontologist on staff and have a meeting with that professional. You can also use the services of a gerontologist to help you plan during your older years. There may be gerontologists available for you, especially if you live in a larger community.
You can search for a geriatrics professional in your state in the U.S. by using this search engine. They can help you find an assisted living facility if that is what you want to do. They can also help you go through the process of moving into assisted living or even a rehab center or nursing home.
Take advantage of gerontology services when you are making plans. They can make the issues of aging more understandable and easier for you to navigate.
The relationships between generations of families is rapidly changing, not just in the U.S. but in much of the world. The generation that is aging right now is the baby boom generation. This generation changed a lot in the U.S. and in the rest of the world, The generations behind us are very different. The baby boom generation is actually where the attitudes starting changing about taking care of the elderly. Now, the generation behind us, those in their 40s, is called the “sandwich generation” because 40% of households in their 40s include both an elderly parent and children.
Often,the elderly (who are now usually the baby boom generation), don’t particularly want to live with their children. Illness may make it necessary. Money may also make it necessary. In the U.S., assisted living facilities and nursing homes are prohibitively expensive. Other cultures take care of their elderly far better than the U.S.
There are subcultures in the U.S. that still do feel a desire and a responsibility to take care of aging parents. One area where this subculture lives is the area where I live, Appalachia. You find many multigenerational families in my area of the world. In some other cultures in the U.S., children often live thousands of miles from where they grew up which doesn’t foster the ideal environment for a multigenerational family.
The elderly who have strong family ties often report a stronger immune system, less illness, improved mental and physical health, and a longer life overall. Work on your family relationships during your life so they will remain strong and supportive as you age. Check out government eldercare resources for very good information on family life and aging.
Education or lifelong learning as you age will keep your mind sharp and help stoke your curiosity about the world. Not only will you stay alert and aware, you can learn the skills for a new “encore” career if you miss working, part-time or full-time. Maybe there is something, besides the job you have either retired from or you will retiring soon, that you’ve always wanted to do. If you study for that new encore career, you can have a fulfilling work life after retirement from your major employer.
If you have a local university nearby, it may have programs that allow senior citizens to attend classes for free. Check with the Admissions Office when you file your application for admittance.
An example might be graphic design. Do you like to play on your iPad or computer? Are you interested in making a little money designing webpages or even entire websites? Is there some other job in graphic design you prefer? You could work part-time and enjoy retirement the rest of the time, but you have to gain the skills. Those will come through education, either in a classroom environment or online through remote learning.
In my case, I was a college professor of finance and business for over 25 years. I was able to retire with full benefits, but I missed working. I missed my co-workers. I missed being able to express my creativity daily. I actually missed everything about working. I had always been a writer and had written a few things for publication. Writing became my encore career. It was hard at first, but I’ve had one book and over 400 articles published.
If you would like to incorporate socialization with your education, you might choose to take classes on a subject of interest in a local university or community college classroom setting. If you prefer to study on your own, you can choose to use online learning via computer. Even though my primary fields were finance and business during my career, my interests now are very diverse. Currently, I’m taking classes (free online classes) in anthropology and genetics. There is a wide array of subjects you can choose from.
You can find online adult education classes at numerous sites online. One is Udemy. You can find classes on a wide array of subjects for reasonable fees. Another excellent platform for online learning is Coursera. If you do an internet search, you can find other platforms for online courses depending on what you want to study.
You can also go the vocational route if that suits you. I have a friend who had a 30 year career as a podiatrist. After he retired, he went to vocational school and became an airplane mechanic.
Aviation engineer workers are maintaining various aircraft systems.
Adult education, or lifelong learning, will help you keep up to date skills and help you feel part of the modern world. It will keep your brain active and alert. Older adults can benefit in many ways from studying something of interest after retirement.
“It looks like a crypt,” he said to himself as he got off the bus. It was the correct address for the hotel his buddy had directed him to when he arrived in town. He had traveled across the country, the whole of America, to play with a band here.
He had no money, but his buddy said that wouldn’t be a problem at this establishment. He pushed open the heavy door. It was dirty and dark inside. It smelled. There was a hotel counter on his right with a bell and a dim light. He rang the bell.
A Goth-looking girl materialized behind the counter. She remarked they had been expecting him. She directed him to what she called a room, but it was just a space, with a dirty cot and a wash basin. The girl invited him to happy hour.
He sat down on the cot and thought about leaving, but he had no money. He wandered down the hall to the place the Goth-girl directed him to for happy hour.
He walked in to order a drink but stopped dead in his tracks. The people were all in Goth attire and makeup and they were dancing an odd dance. He had a bad feeling. He’d find somewhere else.
Grabbing his stuff, he went up to the hotel counter to check out. No one was there, but there was a small sign. It said, “You can check out any time you like but you can’t ever leave.”
Depression is often a condition people who are aging suffer. It may occur after retirement because people find themselves at loose ends and can’t find a way to structure their life without work. It may also occur because older people lose family and friends at this time in their life. Bouts of depression are normal for the aging, but clinical depression is not. Older people often feel very satisfied with their lives despite the changes going on around them. I find that the twists and turns of life are easier to accept at this older age than when I was younger.
Depression is very treatable by your physician. There are things you can do yourself to combat depression. One of the best activities is to try to live in the moment. Don’t engage in too much nostalgia or in much worry about the future. Find things you enjoy at the present moment. A good meal, the birds singing, the company of a friend, a good book are just a few.
If you notice symptoms like the following in an older friend or relative, reach out to them and offer to help: sadness, anxiety, overeating, oversleeping, irritability, loss of interest in favorite activities, difficulty sleeping, or talking or moving more slowly than usual.
There is mild depression that starts and ends quickly. Then, there are other kinds of depression that may need the attention of a doctor along with medicine or therapy. It’s important to see a doctor if the more serious forms of depression are present.
Here is a good resource if you need to find ways to stay socially active. Often, staying physically active may help any depression you may feel. You may already be shaking your head no, but just consider some of the activities you will find here.
We tend to associate aging with cognitive decline. Cognitive decline is just a fancy term for dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. It can also refer to Mild Cognitive Decline which is not considered a form of dementia.
Age-related cognitive decline includes difficulty in finding the right word, slowness of thought, inability to multitask, problems with sustaining attention, and problems with retaining information. In this modern era, if a person exhibits the mildest of these symptoms, their family and doctors automatically jump to the conclusion that they have dementia. If you are worried about a loved one having some form of dementia, these are the symptoms they might be experiencing.
In my grandparent’s era, slowing down a bit mentality was just considered part of the natural process of aging. It was considered to be normal. Nothing to get excited about. Now, everyone wants a diagnosis, so they get slapped with a diagnosis of dementia when mild cognitive decline is, indeed, not dementia at all.
Here are some statistics to think about. Most people who are diagnosed with a form of dementia live in low to middle income countries. There are 55 million people worldwide who have been diagnosed with dementia with five million of those living in the United States. The country where the most dementia is present is Finland. The United Kingdom comes in second. Among developed countries, Japan comes in last. Dementia is on the rise particularly among disadvantaged countries and populations. The harder one has to live, the better the chance of dementia, it seems. People with chronic illnesses also tend to have more dementia.
Mild cognitive decline (MCI) is what most people experience as they age. Sometimes, MCI progresses into full-blown dementia, but often it does not. The symptoms of mild cognitive decline are brief problems with memory, judgment, and language. For example, you may forget where you park, forget your car keys. In the middle of a conversation, you may lose your train of thought or you may not be able to fully follow the conversation. You may get temporarily lost in a place you know well. Your judgment may not be as good as it has been in the past. These symptoms of MCI are nothing to panic about because they happen to almost all people who are aging, but you should report them to your doctor if they get to be particularly bad.
She never tired of this view. Every night, she came to the lovely, long pier on the bay to watch the sunset. The sky turned to watercolors.
The sun was down now, but she stayed on the pier for the companionship of the locals and to watch the nighttime water birds.
It was her last night on the island. She thought she would be back next winter. In the coming summer, the hurricane made a direct hit on the island. It caused destruction to both the island and to her. She knew she would never see the magical island again.
*I cheated a little this week. This is a true story slightly fictionalized.
The Write Scribe 