The Un-Old-Folks-Home
Posted August 21st, 2007 by Bob Fell under the category of General+ Increase Font Size | - Decrease Font Size
The politically correct term for where we are staying is a “Retirement Community”. Words like “Home” or “Facility” are not considered polite.
However, there is more to this than mere nomenclature… what we call things does matter… it shapes our preconceptions of what something will be like and influences how we interact with it.
Retirement communities today… especially this one (where other retirement communities regularly visit to see how they do things here), are designed for life… not the warehousing of people.
When my wife moved me in she described it as more like a resort than a “home”.
But don’t take my word for it… listen to a story that I have heard from two people now… one was the grandmother and the other was a person walking past them in the hall…
A grandmother and her grandson were walking down the hall when the grandson said to his grandmother, “This place is unfair!”
“Why?” asked the grandmother.
“Because it’s only for grandmas and grandpas but there are lots of things here that kids like to do too!”
Out of the mouths of grandsons… he is so right.
I can tell you this… I will be putting my wife’s and my name on the list at a retirement community a lot sooner than I thought. And I will also be having some conversations with my mother and mother-in-law when I move out… this is certainly not their parent’s retirement “home”.
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Bob and Lori - You guys have done an incredible job of capturing the heart and joy of relationships when formed with older adults! I sat down this evening to pay household bills and I thought I’ll take a quick look at your website first. (Something I’ve been wanting to do but had not slowed my fast forward life enough to do.) I read ALL your blogs! The blogs are like reading a good book that you can’t put down. I’m amazed at the depth of your observations, sensitivities, and ability to capture the individual’s unique personalities and stories. My unpaid household bills will still be there for me tomorrow… but tonight I was able to enjoy experiencing GSV life from your project looking glass perspective.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:07 am
Karen-
Thank you so much for your thoughts. It’s odd, but with one week left I find myself looking forward to the end, and also lamenting leaving. With the richness of the data we’ve collected this will be a foundaitonal piece of research for working with seniors, but it also has impacted me personally quite a bit.
I can tell you now… I will be back to visit.
August 27th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Funny I was thinking the exact same thing about Karen after listening to her perspective for the generous time she gave me last week. I am almost overwhelmed (but mostly just incredibly excited) to put all of these wonderful folks’ experiences and wisdom and expertise together with our observations to open the door to the rest of the world. Thank you, Karen, for your dedication and love.