Ageism

Since we are blogging about ageism, I thought I would take this opportunity to share a story and brag on my neice at the same time. My girls sing with a group of seniors in a local community not far from our home. The age range is this--My girls are 15 and 17, the youngest by far, and the oldest member is 96!!!! They had their performance two weeks ago on a Friday night. The show was fabulous--the energy from this group of mostly seniors could be felt throughout the entire theatre. One member of the group was introduced in the beginning of the show. She was seated by herself two rows in front of us. She's one of the original members--she's been singing with this group for 30 years. She had to sit this particular performance out due to a recent illness and hospital stay. My(almost)18 year old neice took it upon herself to go and introduce herself, and ask this woman if it would be OK if she sat with her. She smiled and said she "would like that". A very proud moment for me as her aunt to see the respect and kindness shown by my neice. She could have stayed seated with us, as we had three other kids her age with us also. But she chose to put herself out there, to provide company to an elderly woman she didn't even know!!!
I did have the opportunity to thank several members of this group for allowing my kids to sing with them, and they all responded in the same way. They felt blessed to have the teens singing with them!!! For me as their mom, I am thankful for their time with this group of seniors. They were surrounded by a population that welcomed them right from the beginning and continued to nurture and encourage them every Monday night as they practiced together for months.
We can learn a lot from the elders in our lives. In my opinion, life's experiences are the best of lessons. And I can think of no better way to learn, than to listen to the stories of those who have been there, and done that!
I don't think that at almost 18 years of age, I would have went and sat with an elderly woman I didn't even know. My neice did this without any prompting or even time to think about it. I don't know when I developed a sense of connection to this population. Maybe when I began to see myself entering into it! For M,(my neice) I am glad that she doesn't have to wait for this--she already has it!!!
I remember as a little girl, being afraid of the little elderly lady with the blue hair. Or my friend's grandmother who would constantly yell at us as we tore through her yard as fast as our legs would carry us!!!! To this day I have no idea why she would yell "I'm gonna catch you and box your ears!!!!!" I am a very literal person, so this never sat well with me, but I continued to egg her on every chance I got.
Our elderly population can provide us with much, and we as OTA'S have the opportunity to serve this population as we head into our next FW. Can't wait!!