Dinner at the Seville

If you don't already know this semester I have fell in love with gerontology. Strange as it may be I am very interested in this field. Tonight for my health and aging class we went to one of the local retirement homes to have dinner with the residents. Each student was to pick a table and talk to the residents through dinner and then write a 3 page paper on what they talked about. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to remember enough to write the paper but upon arriving home I was able to write 3 pages easy on what we had talked about.

The three women I sat with were all in their 80's. One was 88! She had been married for 63 years when her husband passed away 7 years ago and she was married at 18 years old! She told me of the years that she grew up in Minnesota and her many years as a seamstress, raising four children and eventually running a fabric store. She was very sweet and she currently spends most of her time working on humanitarian projects for children around the world.

The other 2 women were not as talkative as the first but they were also kind and enjoyed living at the Seville. One was married at 17 and a half and the other at 22. There marriages both lasted about 30-40 years before their husbands passed. They all had great senses of humor, joking back and forth and telling me about their friends that they had their. The most common phrase said amongst the three was "I can't hear you!"

They were so excited about my recent marriage and my upcoming graduation. One of them told me to never get old because its the pits and just started laughing. They were so fun. To say the least I see getting old as an honor. My mom scoffed at me when I told her I am excited to get old. I guess what I was trying to say is that you either die young or grow old and I want to be able to have a full long life with my dear Dan!

Anyway I am excited to get involved at Jamestown Assisted living for my internship and to be able to interact with the residence their everyday!